New Zealand men's series leaders eliminated from HSBC Canada Rugby Sevens Cup semi-finals - HSBC Rugby World Series Sevens (2023)

Day two of the HSBC Canada Rugby Sevens took its toll on the top teams. South Africa, Fiji and New Zealand form the top four in the world, but failed to reach the semi-finals of the cup.

South Africa were eliminated from the pool for the first time this season, before being beaten by Kenya in ninth place in the quarter-finals. The Blitz have not experienced that since the end of the 2022 season (Toulouse in May, Los Angeles in August). Currently third, they now have to battle for 13th place.

The Pumas defeated Fiji 19-14 in the closing moments of the Cup quarter-final courtesy of a Marcos Monetta brace. They will face Ireland in the semifinals.

France proved able to challenge the top four in the world with a well controlled 15-7 win over England in the second half. In 2019, the Gallic Roosters finished last after a disappointing run in Las Vegas and took silver in Vancouver a week later. Will Jérôme Daret's men repeat the same mistakes?

They will be unaffected by New Zealand as they are knocked out of the Cup by Australia for the first time this season. On the second day of competition, the mid-tier teams advanced: France (seventh), Australia (sixth) and Ireland (ninth).

Quarter-finals: Fiji and New Zealand are eliminated from the cup

After McFarlane opened the scoring for England in the first quarter-final, France took the lead twice in the first half through Jean-Pascal Ballack and Stephane Parez, but neither conceded. Paul Leraître brought France within two points with an assist from Theo Forner, who then scored twice to send France through to the semi-finals.

In the next game, a strong team, Argentina or Fiji, loses. Jerry Tuvai, two-time Olympic gold medalist in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, opened the scoring with his silky-smooth technique. The Cougars quickly found space, closing down the Fijian defenses and creating space for Matias Osadzuk and Marcos Moneta to run. Manueli Mesamoah equalized for Fiji, but Argentina used the extra space to set up the winner for Moneta when he was caught by Simbin with a high tackle.

New Zealand, who have won back-to-back games in Sydney and Los Angeles, gave up twice in the first half to Henry Patterson and Darby Lancaster in their quarter-final against Australia, while McGarvey-Black's Nagaroshi A fumbled. But the All Blacks Sevens couldn't find the strength to bounce back in the second half, allowing Australia to keep scoring despite Patterson's support. With injuries hampering their progress in recent weeks, Australia put in a strong performance in the quarter-finals to knock out the Blacks 17-7, something that had not happened this season.

Ireland scored through Jack Kelly in the first minute, but the United States found an answer before the break, with Perry Baker's 250th try on target.

Shots from the equally productive Jordan Conroy and Malaki Esdale sealed the game in sudden death and overtime, with Zach Ward returning on a brief comeback after a scoreless first five minutes. An important success helped Ireland to a 15-10 semi-final victory against Argentina.

Group A: Team USA is going all out

It took just 15 seconds for the US to score against Spain, which then took minutes to react. The last time the two teams met was a week ago in Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Lions narrowly won. At halftime at BC Place in Vancouver, the score remained tied at 14-14 until the 12th minute.

The fast and skillful play of the American Men's Sevens Eagles belied their fatigue after such an intense game, but they appeared to have won the game when David Steele scored with seconds left. But Spain didn't give up, they converted a penalty in extra time to go out and Mandeka tied the score at 19-19.

The United States came in second behind New Zealand, who defeated Samoa 40-5 6-1, including a hat-trick from Joe Webber and Aguilar Roccolisoa. Akuila Rokolisoa's nearly 100-meter dash at the buzzer. The All Blacks Rugby Sevens will take on Australia in the quarter-finals, while the United States will take on Ireland.

Group B: Last minute rescue for France, South Africa eliminated

After a draw against the Lightning and a loss against the Cougars the day before, France knew they could only reach the quarter-finals with a big win over Japan and Argentina's victory over South Africa.

There were four tries in the first half, including a goal from Paul Leraître, two conversions from Jean-Pascal Barraque and a goal from Varian Pascal before the break. on the line.

France then scored four more tries to break the 40-point mark. Joshua Kerevi's shot failed to stop the engine and France won 46-5, the second highest score against Japan (the highest was 50-7 in Cape Town in 2016).

It remains to be seen how well Argentina will do against South Africa in the 70th meeting between the two teams. The first half ended without a single point, a rarity in HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series history.

It was not until the eleventh minute that substitute Marcos Monetta broke the deadlock and gave Argentina the lead. Germany's Schulz boosted France's expectations two minutes later in the quarter-final against Great Britain (12-0) with an excellent assist from his teammate. It was the first time South Africa had been eliminated in the group stage this season.

Pool C: Fiji's resurgence

Just like the last time the two teams met at the Sydney 2023 Olympics, Kenya trailed by two points at half-time, but did not give up on Uruguay. But unlike at the end of January, this time it was Los Teros who prevailed (21-19), won the second pool match and put themselves in a good position. Only England's victory over Fiji will see them finish second in their group and progress to the quarter-finals, which will be the team's first return to the World Series.

Welshman Tom Williams' brilliant hat-trick in the first half caused serious problems for Fiji in the ensuing game, but they found a response through Vithia Nakuchu.

This gave Fiji momentum in the second half, with shots from Iowane Teba, Ponepatti Loganimasi and Lauto Wakadanu giving Fiji a 26–15 aggregate win.

Uruguay failed to progress despite two group stage wins, including a second against Fiji on day one and Kenya on day two.

Group D: Longbottom help Australia to the quarter-finals

After the women's victory over Brazil earlier in the day, Canada's men's team also had a chance to beat South America and finish the group stage against Chile on a high note. Josiah Morra's brace, Matthew Percillier's brace in the win over Australia the day before and Jack Thiel's (Jake Thiel's last-minute shot undermined Chile's normal hopes for Vancouver, despite a fine effort from Baltazar Jana threatening Canada in the 13th.

Although Canada won 35-7, two wins in the group stage, but missed out on the quarterfinals.

Australia, who had lost to Canada the day before, struggled against Ireland in the last group game of the day. Despite an early try from Darby Lancaster, Australia failed to extend their half-time lead against Ireland, who were willing to empty their tanks to keep the game close.

Jordan Conroy's 100th career World Series effort negated Daley Bird's earlier effort and Australia needed to score to progress. Henry Patterson did just that in the closing moments and Australia advanced to the quarter-finals with a 21-7 victory over New Zealand courtesy of Maurice Longbottom's magic boot.

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In the ninth-placed quarter-finals, Uruguay defeated Japan 14–7 in straight sets, South Africa lost 17–12 to Kenya in the final seconds, and Samoa defeated Chile 28–12. Spain defeated Cabarda 19-14.