Four-try Perry Baker becomes the first player in the men’s competition to score four in an Olympic rugby sevens match, as USA, France and South Africa filled the three remaining quarter-final places on day two at Stade de France.
Four-try Perry Baker drew level with Carlin Isles on the all-time Olympic try-scorers list, as USA, France and South Africa made sure of medal quarter-final places on the second day of the men’s rugby sevens at Stade de France.
USA will face Australia in the last eight following Baker’s exploits against Uruguay on Thursday.
Meanwhile, defending two-time champions Fiji extended their perfect Olympic record to finish top of Pool C, and set up a quarter-final against Ireland.
Hosts France will face Argentina in the evening’s quarter-finals in a repeat of the SVNS Grand Final, after finishing second in their pool to Fiji. In the other quarter-final, New Zealand face South Africa.
Here is how the final pool matches played out.
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POOL A
New Zealand left it late to win a dramatic Pool A decider against Ireland 14-12.
Akuila Rokolisoa landed a difficult late conversion to win a tense game, after Ireland had raced into a 12-0 half-time lead.
Earlier, Zac Ward had skirted down the touchline to open the scoring in the corner six minutes into a tight first half, and Jordan Conroy dived under the posts for their second before the opening period was out.
But the game was far from over and Leroy Carter skipped through two tackles in the opening seconds of the second half to get New Zealand back in the game. Ngarohi McGarvey-Black then flopped over in the final minute to give Rokolisoa his far-from easy shot at victory.
South Africa signed off from the pool phase with a convincing seven-try, 49-5 victory over a Japan side who have shipped 40 points or more in every match so far.
Zain Davids powered over for the first try of the match in the first minute of the game, while Impi Visser, Shilton van Wyk, and Ryan Oosthuizen – twice – all crossed in a one-way first half.
Kazuma Ueda finally got Japan on the board in the second half – but Rosko Specman answered back almost immediately, and Van Wyk went over for his second in the last minute.
POOL B
Australia finished in top spot after beating Argentina 22-14 in the Pool B decider.
Argentina, the best attacking side in the SVNS series this year, got the first points via Germán Schulz. It was only the third try Australia had conceded in Paris.
But Australia scored twice in quick succession after Luciano González’s yellow card. Henry Hutchison got them on the board, before Ben Dowling’s vision and pace led to a second down the shortest of short sides.
González was back on the pitch when Dietrich Roache forced his way over for Australia’s third early in the second half. Matías Osadczuk pulled Argentina to within a point, but Nick Malouf finished off a thrilling move late on to take Australia out of reach.
Earlier, Samoa won the battle of the day-one crowd-pleasers as they beat Kenya 26-0 at a sun-soaked Stade de France.
The Kenyans – twice reduced to six players – showed flashes of invention that had endeared them to the fans on Wednesday, but were twice caught out by quick Samoan thinking. Motu Opetai skated over following a spell of early pressure in the first half, and Paul Scanlan ran in unopposed after taking a quick tap penalty in the second.
Vaa Apelu Maliko and Steve Onosai added tries three and four as the Kenya defence tired, but South Africa’s later heroics against Japan meant victory wasn’t enough to see Samoa through to the quarter-finals.
POOL C
Fiji sevens legend Jerry Tuwai scored as the defending champions maintained their perfect Olympic winning record, beating France 19-12 in a thrilling and physical encounter to finish top of Pool C.
Tuwai’s try finished off a flowing, offloading move, while Kaminieli Rasaku and Joji Nasova also touched down for the two-time champions as they put on a festival of Fijian rugby.
Aaron Grandidier Nkanang had given France an early lead following a long period of possession, while Andy Timo scored a late consolation for the host nation. But they were unable to hold back the repeated waves of Fijian offloading, attacking rugby.
Earlier, Perry Baker became the first man to score four tries in an Olympic sevens match as they beat Uruguay 33-17 to book their place in the knockout phase of the men’s rugby sevens competition with their first win in Pool C.
Only Reapi Ulunisau, of Fiji’s women’s team, had scored four tries in a game before.
Baker is now level with former team-mate Carlin Isles as the most prolific Olympic men’s try scorer, with nine.
Lucas Lacamp scorched in to add his name to the scoresheet, while Baltazar Amaya responded with two for Uruguay, and Bautista Basso also scored for the South Americans.
