Japan beat Uruguay 26-19 in the World Rugby Sevens Series qualifier quarter-finals and will face Ireland for a spot in the final on Sunday.
Siosifa Lisala got Japan off to a flyer in the quarter-finals, scoring his third try of the weekend straight from the restart.
Santiago Arata showed great speed to give Los Teros a 7-5 lead following a Felipe Etcheverry kick but a well worked move of their own saw Katsuyuki Sakai benefit from offloads from Kosuke Hashino and Lisala for a 12-7 lead at half-time.
Jose Seru and Josefa Liliadamu hit two quick tries early in the second-half, leaving Uuguay with too much to do despite two late tries.
Hosts Hong Kong missed out in the quarter-finals for a second successive year, this time losing to Chile 24-12.
Despite Kane Boucaut capitalising on a Chilean knock-on to score under the posts for a 7-5 lead, Chile struck either side of half-time through Benjamin De Vidts and Rodrigo Fernandez to leave too much work to be done for Paul John’s side.
In the earlier final pool matches in the competition Japan and Hong Kong both secured their quarter-final spots with victories.
Both sides ended second in their respective pools on points difference to progress to the quarter-finals, Japan overcoming Uganda 24-10.
For the hosts, having lost both matches on day one, they beat Zimbabwe 19-14 to clinch a last eight slot.
Despite taking a 12-0 lead through captain Ben Rimene and Kane Boucaut scoring twice in 60 seconds, Zimbabwe hit back with two converted tries to lead 14-12. But in the 14th minute Michael Coverdale scored the winning try with a quick tap and go from a penalty five metres out.
Japan into last four….
Qualification semi-final 12:54 local time on Sunday pic.twitter.com/tm87dHQySF
— Asia Rugby (@asiarugby) April 7, 2018
