Cape Town 7s: Blitzboks remain unbeaten
South Africa's victory over Australia ensured them top spot in Pool A. Despite going down to the USA – who finished second – in their final pool match, Russia could take some heart from the match as they ran in three tries to claim their first points of the tournament.
Fiji emerged unscathed from Pool B as they wrapped up the pool stage with victory over France, who missed out on the Cup section. Kenya ended the pool in second place after their victory over Japan.
New Zealand remained the only unbeaten side in Pool C as they handed England a lesson to claim top spot while Canada saw the Cup quarterfinal hopes go up in smoke when they went down to Argentina.
Scotland took top spot in Pool D after managing to hold off a resurgent Welsh side while Samoa bagged their first victory of the tournament after overcoming Uganda, who failed to register a win from their three matches.
All the Round Three results!
Pool D
Samoa 29-7 Uganda
Samoa displayed their offloading skills when they grabbed the first converted try in the opening minute but Uganda his back immediately with an unconverted score to keep the deficit to just two points. Samoa grabbed a further two tries to close out the half while Uganda were reduced to six men.
Samoa virtually ended the match as a contest with three minutes remaining when they scored their fourth try of the match and closed things off with another try in the final seconds.
Wales 21-24 Scotland
Wales were reduced to six men early in the match and had more misery piled on them as they conceded a penalty try after two minutes and had a second player sent to the sin bin. Scotland managed just one score in that time but added their third in the final minute to take a 19-point half-time lead.
Wales got themselves on the board with two tries inside the opening two minutes of the second half to reduce the deficit to just five points but Scotland hit back with a try of their own. Wales kept themselves in the contest with a converted try two minutes from time but Scotland hung on for the win.
Pool C
Argentina 43-14 Canada
Argentina raced to a 12-0 lead in the opening two minutes after two well-worked scores before grabbing a third with two minutes left in the first half. Argentina pressed home their advantage to secure two further scores before half-time.
Canada got themselves on the board with the first score in the second half but Argentina hit back with a try of their own to maintain their massive advantage with two minutes left in the match. Canada grabbed a consolation in the final minute, only for Argentina to hit back with the final play of the match.
England 7-33 New Zealand
New Zealand were reduced to six men early in the encounter but England were unable to take full advantage of their extra man. However, England managed to break the deadlock in the fifth minute with a converted try. New Zealand levelled matters with the final play of the half when they dotted down for a converted try.
England found themselves down a man inside a few seconds of the second half and New Zealand took advantage to score their second converted try of the match before extending their lead to 12 points with four minutes remaining.
The match was over as a contest when New Zealand were awarded a penalty try with two minutes to go and England once again found themselves down to six men. New Zealand were not done though as they bagged another converted try to close out the match.
Pool B
Kenya 24-5 Japan
Kenya needed just two minutes to open the scoring with a converted try before Japan responded with an unconverted try of their own. Kenya finished the half strongly though and built a 14 point lead with two tries, on converted, in the final minute of the half.
Japan came out strongly but handling errors cost them getting back into the came and Kenya made them pay for it as they scored their first second half try with three minutes left to play. Kenya were reduced to six men in the final minute but it mattered little as they took the win.
Fiji 28-19 France
Fiji opened the scoring with a converted try after two minutes and doubled their lead three minutes later but France hit back on the stroke of half-time with a converted score to trail by just seven.
France trailed by two points with five minutes remaining in the match when they scored their second of the match before taking a five-point lead two minutes later with a converted try. Fiji hit back straight away though to restore their two-point lead. Fiji put the final nail in France's coffin with a converted try with the final play of the match.
Pool A
USA 26-17 Russia
Despite going down to six men early in the contest, the USA were the first on the board with an unconverted score before adding another seven points with two minutes to go in the half. Russia got their first points of the weekend with a converted try in the final minute of the half to reduce the deficit to just five points.
The USA stretched their lead to 12 points in the first minute of the second half before they added another converted tries two minutes later. Russia were not going down without a fight though and notched up two tries in the closing minutes to bring some respectability to the scoreline.
South Africa 29-7 Australia
The Blitzboks had much of the early possession in the opening stages but Australia stood firm in defence to deny the home side. However, South Africa managed to open the scoring after three minutes when captain Phillip Snyman dotted down in the corner for a 5-0 lead.
Werner Kok made a massive break from inside his half and looked to have out-sprinted the cover defence but he was brought down two metres short. South Africa spread the ball to the other side of the field and Kyle Brown was on hand to run in the second try of the match. Branco du Preez converted for a 12-0 lead.
Cecil Afrika capped off an impressive first half with a brilliant individual effort after Seabelo Senatla made a telling tackle to win the Blitzboks a penalty as South Africa led 17-0 at the break.
Snyman won an early turnover and raced away for the home side's fourth try of the match. Du Preez' conversion took the score to 24-0 with five minutes to play. Australia got themselves onto the board after 10 minutes with a converted try.
However, Ruhan Nel hit back for the Blitzboks a minute later when he ran onto a Justin Geduld pass to stretch their lead to 29-7. The Blitzboks took their foot off the gas and managed to grab the win.
Sunday, December 11 fixtures:
Challenge Trophy quarterfinals
Australia v Uganda- 10.36
Argentina v Japan- 10.58
Samoa v Russia – 11.20
France v Canada – 11.42
Cup quarterfinals
South Africa v Wales – 12.04
New Zealand v Kenya – 12.26
Scotland v USA – 12.48
Fiji v England – 13.10
