USA progress to semi-finals of Las Vegas Sevens

New Zealand, USA, Samoa and Argentina all progressed through to the Cup semi-finals of the Las Vegas Sevens after another enthralling day of action at the Sam Boyd Stadium.

With the tournament taking place over three days, this middle day was a combination of the conclusion of the pool stage and the first of the knockout matches as the Challenge Trophy quarter-finals and Cup quarter-finals finished day two.

The USA Sevens is the fifth tournament on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2019. This stop marks the halfway point on the World Series meaning that every point is vital, not only for the title race, but also in the chase for qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – the top-four teams at the end of the series will gain automatic qualification.

The fiercely contested Cup quarter-finals give fans a stellar semi-final line-up on Sunday as the joint leaders on the World Series – New Zealand and USA – will face each other while Samoa and Argentina will meet in the second contest. The matches get underway at 13:12 local time (GMT-8) with the Cup final taking place at 16:30.

Samoa are heading to their first Cup semi-final since 2016 and after captain David Afamasaga praised their belief and performance: “We had the self-belief that we could do it and it just showed out there in that last game. Credit to Australia, they gave us a real good battle and that’s what rugby is all about, fighting to the end. We definitely are looking forward to tomorrow. We’re going to give it our all like we did today.”

Fiji, South Africa, Australia and England will all compete in the fifth-place semi-finals from 12:28 local time (GMT-8).

In the Challenge Trophy, invitational side Chile, Spain, Kenya and Scotland all progressed into the semi-finals after wins over France, Wales, Japan and Canada. Los Leones and Kenya will contest the the first Trophy semi-final while Scotland will clash with Chile in the second. In the battle for 13th place, Wales will open proceedings against Japan on Sunday at 11:00 local time (GMT-8), followed by Canada versus France.

Day Two results

Cup quarter-finals

Argentina 26-21 England
Australia 20-21 Samoa
South Africa 10-29 USA
New Zealand 19-14 Fiji

Challenge Trophy quarter-finals

France 12-17 Chile
Scotland 21-19 Canada
Japan 15-28 Kenya
Spain 19-7 Wales

Pool stages

Wales 14-19 Scotland
Fiji 15-26 Australia
Canada 19-26 Samoa
New Zealand 19-7 Spain
Argentina 19-24 Kenya
USA 19-10 France
Japan 19-7 Chile
England 12-29 South Africa