South Africa lead Las Vegas Sevens
LOS ANGELES: South Africa, the defending champions and current World Rugby Sevens Series leaders, won twice on Friday, the opening day of the Las Vegas Sevens.
South Africa erased a 14-0 deficit to defeat Wales 26-21 then closed the night with a 19-12 victory over Canada to become one of five teams to win both of their matches on the opening day of the fifth leg of the series.
South Africa’s Pool B rivals England were also unbeaten on Friday, running in six tries in a 40-12 rout of Canada before a 3312 win over Wales in which Tom Bowen ran in a hat-trick.
South Africa and England will face off to decide the pool, and the Blitzboks will be hoping that Kyle Brown, who limped off early in the second half against Canada will be fit.
Fiji lit up the scoreboard with a 38-0 victory over Russia and a 33-5 triumph over France to top pool A.
The United States produced two impressive wins in Pool C, topping Samoa 26-12 before beating Australia 28-7.
In Pool D, Argentina surprised New Zealand 26-19 and edged Scotland 21-19.
New Zealand, currently second in the series standings, had beaten Uruguay 28-7 before falling to Argentina, who beat the Kiwis for just the 10th time in 82 meetings.
“It’s just about not making any mistakes and playing very hard,” Argentina coach Santiago Gomez Cora said.
South Africa, whose run to the series title last season included a triumph in Las Vegas, lead the current standings on 77 points with New Zealand second on 69 and Fiji third on 62.