Fiji roar into Vancouver Sevens quarter

World Rugby Sevens Series leaders Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand were perfect in pool play to book quarter-final berths at the Vancouver Sevens, where Scotland, Samoa and Wales also advanced.
Kitione Taliga's last-minute winner on Saturday lifted Fiji to a 24-19 victory over Kenya that knocked the Kenyans into the Bowl.

That took some of the gloss off Kenyan Collins Injera's milestone day. He scored his 221st career try to move into second place behind Argentina's Santiago Gomez Cora (230) on the World Series all-time list.

Fiji, who came into Vancouver leading the standings with 91 points after their triumph in the Las Vegas Sevens, will play the United States in the first quarter-final after Mike Friday's side finished second to New Zealand in Pool D.

New Zealand avoided the unwelcome match-up with Fiji with a 17-5 victory over the United States in the Pool D decider.

Sione Molia scored twice for the All Blacks Sevens as they set up a meeting with Samoa -- who haven't reached the Cup quarters since the season-opening tournament in Dubai.

In their earlier matches, New Zealand scored three second-half tries to see off France 24-10 and downed England 7-0.

Australia secured their spot in the last eight as winners of Pool B with a 49-14 victory over Wales.

That result left Canada needing a 30-point win over Russia in the final match of the day to grab the last Cup berth from Wales, and Canada's 29-12 win saw them fall short on point difference despite the fevered support of the home crowd at BC Place, where home fans had been thrilled by their team's 14-12 upset of Australia.

"This is a game of tiny margins, huge heartache," said Canada coach Liam Middleton. "The effort these guys put in to come close and lose out can be heartbreaking.

"Two wins should be enough to get you through," he added, but instead it was Australia -- who also thumped Russia 43-5 -- going through along with Wales, whose run was keyed by a 52-0 demolition of Russia.

"It's been a brilliant day," said Wales captain Luke Treharne. "When we saw the group we saw it as a chance to progress into the Cup this week, and we're really pleased so far."

Andy Friend's Australia, runners-up in the last two tournaments, will play Scotland. Wales face a tough match against South Africa, who scored 16 tries on Saturday while conceding only one.

South Africa, second to Fiji in the standings on 86 points, moved smoothly into the last eight with a 43-0 victory over Scotland, a 26-7 win over Brazil and a 27-0 triumph over Argentina.
Source :AFP