Champions Samoa fail at Cape Town Sevens pool stage, Blitzboks in quarters
Last year's winners Samoa failed to reach the knockout stage on the first day of the Cape Town Sevens at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The tournament is the second leg of the World Rugby SVNS Series.
Samoa were trounced 27-7 by Australia and 33-7 by Canada in their first two matches but rallied to defeat New Zealand 21-14 in their final match in the highly competitive Pool C.
It was not enough to lift them off last place on the log.
Perennial challengers New Zealand also lost two of their three matches – going down 19-7 to Canada in their opening fixture before beating Australia 35-5.
Group winners Canada and second-placed Australia qualified automatically for Sunday's quarterfinals but New Zealand scraped through as one of the two best third-placed teams from the three pools.
New Zealand will meet Pool A winners Ireland in the quarterfinals. Ireland beat hosts South Africa 14-12 in the final match of the day, with Gavin Mullen scoring two tries.
South Africa's Blitzboks, winners of the series opener in Dubai last weekend, had already qualified for the last eight by winning their first two matches.
They will meet Australia in the knockout stage.
Argentina's Gaston Revol became the first player in the history of the series to play in 100 tournaments.
"He is the soul of the team," said coach Gomez Cora.
Argentina, beaten finalists in Dubai, won their first two matches in Pool B before losing 19-12 to Fiji in a top-of-the-table clash.
Both teams qualified for the quarterfinals, alongside France, who shocked Fiji 17-14 with a last-gasp penalty in their opening match.
In the women's tournament, New Zealand and Dubai winners Australia won all their matches to remain on course to repeat last year's final.
France were also unbeaten.
What a day in Cape Town! 🇿🇦
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) December 9, 2023
There is still time to secure your Day Two tickets as we will be back to do it all over again!
🎟️ https://t.co/qtbmXQc5sD#HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSCPT pic.twitter.com/NW4elRtSmh
QUARTERFINAL LINE-UPS
Men:
Argentina v Canada
Ireland v New Zealand
Australia v South Africa
Fiji v France
Women:
Great Britain v United States
Australia v Ireland
France v Fiji
New Zealand v Canada
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