LONDON, ENGLAND — A huge crowd of more than 46,000 fans filled Twickenham Stadium with noise and colour as the best teams in the world put on a superb showcase of high octane rugby sevens on the first day of the HSBC London Sevens on Saturday.
The eighth and penultimate round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 saw current Series leaders Argentina fail to reach the quarter-finals after a dramatic last gasp defeat to Ireland in their final Pool C encounter.
There was smoother progress for Olympic champions Fiji, Rugby World Cup Sevens winners New Zealand, reigning Series title holders South Africa and Samoa, who all topped their pools with perfect win records to reach tomorrow’s quarter-finals.
Hosts England will face Fiji in what promises to be a thrilling quarter-final after victories over Scotland and Japan were enough to secure their progress despite defeat to Samoa in their final Pool D match.
England will need the full support of their home crowd in tomorrow’s quarter-final against double Olympic Champions Fiji who arrived at Twickenham in confident mood after reaching the final in the last three rounds since returning to the Series, winning gold twice in Toulouse and Singapore.
Fiji are also defending champions in London having won the title the last time the event took place in 2019.
Today’s results mean South Africa have the opportunity to clinch the Series title on Sunday should they reach tomorrow’s final.
The battle for the men’s Series title is extremely tight with only eight points separating the top three teams ahead of the event in London: Argentina (118 points), South Africa (116), and Australia (110) while the likes of Ireland and Fiji have an outside chance of clinching the title.
The unique rankings points system for the 2022 Series sees only the best seven results from each team count towards the final standings and the race for Series medals and to avoid the two relegation spots is on.
Today’s results mean South Africa have the opportunity to clinch the Series title on Sunday should they reach tomorrow’s final.
The battle for the men’s Series title is extremely tight with only eight points separating the top three teams ahead of the event in London: Argentina (118 points), South Africa (116), and Australia (110) while the likes of Ireland and Fiji have an outside chance of clinching the title.
The unique rankings points system for the 2022 Series sees only the best seven results from each team count towards the final standings and the race for Series medals and to avoid the two relegation spots is on.
World Rugby Media Release
Photo Credit: World Rugby
