Blitzbokke lie in wait for England

TWO tries by Dan Norton in a man of the match display against Japan set up England with a quarterfinal clash against the Boks this morning.

The six-try 36-0 rout saw England bounce back from a narrow 14-7 defeat to Fiji to qualify second in Pool A.

Skipper Tom Mitchell said: “Week two is always about digging in and I’m really proud of the guys and we’re excited for the opportunity to play South Africa in the quarter-final.

“It was another hard day of competition on the World Series but we’re pleased to get through to the quarter-finals.”

England began Day 1 with a 24-12 victory over Samoa, Richard de Carpentier, Will Muir, Dan Bibby, and Tom Bowen grabbing the tries.

Norton scored in the defeat to Fiji before adding two more against Japan. Dan Bibby set up his first against the Cherry Blossoms in the opening minute and two minutes later an error by Japan gave him room for his second.

Mitchell’s dash to the line was then denied by Naoki Motomura but Bibby finished off in support.

Within a minute after the break, Bowen took advantage of another Japanese handing error to score before replacement Ryan Olowofela added two more.

Wales suffered a 21-5 defeat to Spain in the final deciding Pool C fixture.

A last minute try by Luke Treharne glossed a poor performance by Wales, with two tries by Catalan wing Pol Pla helping Spain create an unassailable three-try margin.

Wales began with a heavy 27-14 loss to New Zealand and despite also conceding a try in the first minute against Scotland, four tries including two by Valleys wing Owen Jenkins set up Wales for a secondtier Challenge trophy tie against Kenya.

After losing all three Pool C games, Scotland face a tough match with Canada.

Fiji skipper Kalione Nasoko grabbed the side’s fourth try in a 22-12 victory over Samoa to set up a quarter-final clash with Australia. New Zealand take on France and USA face Spain in the remaining last eight clashes.