Four-try Perry Baker drew level with Carlin Isles on the all-time Olympics Rugby 7s try-scorers list, as USA, France and South Africa made sure of medal quarter-final places on the second day of the men’s rugby sevens at Stade de France.
USA will face Australia in the last eight following Baker’s exploits against Uruguay on Thursday.
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Meanwhile, defending two-time champions Fiji extended their perfect Olympic record to finish top of Pool C, and set up a quarter-final against Ireland.
Hosts France will face Argentina in the evening’s quarter-finals in a repeat of the SVNS Grand Final, after finishing second in their pool to Fiji. In the other quarter-final, New Zealand face South Africa.
Here is how the final pool matches played out.
POOL A
New Zealand left it late to win a dramatic Pool A decider against Ireland 14-12.
Akuila Rokolisoa landed a difficult late conversion to win a tense game, after Ireland had raced into a 12-0 half-time lead.
Earlier, Zac Ward had skirted down the touchline to open the scoring in the corner six minutes into a tight first half, and Jordan Conroy dived under the posts for their second before the opening period was out.
But the game was far from over and Leroy Carter skipped through two tackles in the opening seconds of the second half to get New Zealand back in the game. Ngarohi McGarvey-Black then flopped over in the final minute to give Rokolisoa his far-from easy shot at victory.
South Africa signed off from the pool phase with a convincing seven-try, 49-5 victory over a Japan side who have shipped 40 points or more in every match so far.
Zain Davids powered over for the first try of the match in the first minute of the game, while Impi Visser, Shilton van Wyk, and Ryan Oosthuizen – twice – all crossed in a one-way first half.
Kazuma Ueda finally got Japan on the board in the second half – but Rosko Specman answered back almost immediately, and Van Wyk went over for his second in the last minute.
POOL B
Australia finished in top spot after beating Argentina 22-14 in the Pool B decider.
Argentina, the best attacking side in the SVNS series this year, got the first points via Germán Schulz. It was only the third try Australia had conceded in Paris.
But Australia scored twice in quick succession after Luciano González’s yellow card. Henry Hutchison got them on the board, before Ben Dowling’s vision and pace led to a second down the shortest of short sides.
González was back on the pitch when Dietrich Roache forced his way over for Australia’s third early in the second half. Matías Osadczuk pulled Argentina to within a point, but Nick Malouf finished off a thrilling move late on to take Australia out of reach.
Earlier, Samoa won the battle of the day-one crowd-pleasers as they beat Kenya 26-0 at a sun-soaked Stade de France.
The Kenyans – twice reduced to six players – showed flashes of invention that had endeared them to the fans on Wednesday, but were twice caught out by quick Samoan thinking. Motu Opetai skated over following a spell of early pressure in the first half, and Paul Scanlan ran in unopposed after taking a quick tap penalty in the second.
Vaa Apelu Maliko and Steve Onosai added tries three and four as the Kenya defence tired, but South Africa’s later heroics against Japan meant victory wasn’t enough to see Samoa through to the quarter-finals.
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POOL C
Fiji sevens legend Jerry Tuwai scored as the defending champions maintained their perfect Olympic winning record, beating France 19-12 in a thrilling and physical encounter to finish top of Pool C.
Tuwai’s try finished off a flowing, offloading move, while Kaminieli Rasaku and Joji Nasova also touched down for the two-time champions as they put on a festival of Fijian rugby.
Aaron Grandidier Nkanang had given France an early lead following a long period of possession, while Andy Timo scored a late consolation for the host nation. But they were unable to hold back the repeated waves of Fijian offloading, attacking rugby.
Earlier, Perry Baker became the first man to score four tries in an Olympic sevens match as they beat Uruguay 33-17 to book their place in the knockout phase of the men’s rugby sevens competition with their first win in Pool C.
Only Reapi Ulunisau, of Fiji’s women’s team, had scored four tries in a game before.
Baker is now level with former team-mate Carlin Isles as the most prolific Olympic men’s try scorer, with nine.
Lucas Lacamp scorched in to add his name to the scoresheet, while Baltazar Amaya responded with two for Uruguay, and Bautista Basso also scored for the South Americans.
OLYMPICS RUGBY 7S ORDER OF PLAY
Times in EAT
- Australia 21-14 Samoa 1630 hrs
- Kenya 12-31 Argentina 1700 hrs
- France 12-12 USA 1730 hrs
- Fiji 40-12 Uruguay 1800 hrs
- Ireland 10-7 South Africa 1830 hrs
- New Zealand 40-12 Japan 1900 hrs
- Australia 21-7 Kenya 2000 hrs
- Argentina 28-12 Samoa 2030 hrs
- France 19-12 Uruguay 2100 hrs
- Fiji 38-12 USA 2130 hrs
- Ireland 40-5Japan 2200 hrs
- New Zealand 17-5 South Africa 2230 hrs
25th July
- Samoa 26-0 Kenya 1500 hrs
- Argentina 14-22 Australia 1530 hrs
- USA 33-17 Uruguay 1600 hrs
- Fiji 19-12 France 1630 hrs
- South Africa 49-5 Japan 1700 hrs
- New Zealand 14-12 Ireland 1730 hrs
Knockout stages
9th place semis
- Samoa vs Japan 2100 hrs
- Uruguay vs Kenya 7s 2130 hrs
Medal quarter-finals
- Q1. New Zealand vs South Africa 2200hrs
- Q2. Argentina vs France 2230 hrs
- Q3. Fiji vs Ireland 2300hrs
- Q4. Australia vs USA 2330 hrs
27th July
5th place Semifinals
- Looser match 21 vs looser match 22 1530 hrs
- Looser match 23 vs Looser match 24 1600 hrs
Medal Semi finals
- Winner match 21 vs Winner match 22 1630 hrs
- Winner match 23 vs Winner match 24 1700 hrs
11th place playoffs
- Looser match 19 vs looser match 20 1730 hrs
9th place playoffs
- Winner match 19 vs Winner match 20 1800 hrs
7th place playoffs
- Looser match 25 vs Looser match 26 1900 hrs
5th place playoffs
- Winner match 25 vs Winner match 26 1930 hrs
Bronze finals
- Looser match 27 vs Looser match 28 2000 hrs
Gold Finals
- Winner match 27 vs Winner match 28 2045 hrs