Perth SVNS, Day Two - Men
WRAP: Welcome to our coverage of the men's matches on Day Two of the Perth SVNS, Round Three of the World Series.
Los Pumas continued their flying start to the season with two more wins, while South Africa, their closest rivals in the standings, the United States and Fiji also wen unbeaten on Day One in Perth.
Three sudden-death, golden point matches, two in a nail-biting Pool C, made for a thrilling start to the men's competition as Perth hosted SVNS for the first time in bright sunshine.
Follow all the Day Two drama below!
Quarter finals:
Ireland 21 - 14 France
The French got off to a good start in a evenly contested 1st half scoring two tries (STEPHEN PAREZ EDO MARTIN & JOSEPH JEFFERSON LEE ) to Ireland’s one (HUGO LENNOX).
France gave away penalty try and JOSEPH JEFFERSON LEE saw yellow for his illegal attempt at stopping a try.
The Irish keep their nerve at the end as they manage to secure the win after stoppage time through a try by ZAC WARD.
Argentina 28 - 17 Spain
The underdogs got off to a flying start as they recorded the first score in the game with EDUARDO LOPEZ visiting behind the white-wash and then getting in close again soon after.
Argentina’s defense was duly tested in the first half and they showed their class sating patient and forcing an intercept. The then went to the flyer MARCOS MONETA who scored a brace in the first half.
The Pumas flexed their Series Leaders muscles and comfortably saw out the the Spanish threat.
Spain scores a final try in their efforts through POL PLA
Fiji 14 v 12 South Africa
This encounter started off as an arm wrestle between these two nations and their contrasting styles of play.
South Africa managed to come out in top in the first half with a try from RYAN OOSTHUIZEN.
The Fijian’s got going in the 2nd half and the danger man TERIO TAMANI scored under the poles.
The arm wrestle continued as TRISTAN LEYDS comes on from the bench to score.
The Fijians however come out on top as they put in an massive defensive effort at the death.
USA 7 - 31 Australia
The final match of the was evenly contested in the opening minutes of the game as both teams refused to give it away easily. The Australians stayed calm and absorbed the pressure.
The hosts managed to score three unanswered tries in the first half as a now tired looking USA defense didn’t have an answer to this relenting Aussies attack.
The Aussies picked up where they left off in the first half as HENRY PALMER scored within seconds of the restart.
USA got awarded a penalty try and NATHAN LAWSON sees yellow.
Australia finishes off the game with a final score through BEN DOWLING as they comfortably book their spot in the semi-finals.
RANKINGS QUALIFIER MATCHES:
9TH PLACE SEMI FINAL:
Samoa 24 – 19 Great Britain
The first 9th place semi-final got off to a quick start as Great Britain found space wide and TOM EMERY scored.
UAINA TUI SIONE went into beast mode and scored twice for Samoa in the first half before MELANI MATAVAO finished off the half to take them into the break with 14 points up.
Great Britain pulled off a massive come back (19-5 down) in this one as TOM WILLIAMS scores the last try and TOM EMERY steps up an slots the kick.
It went down to the wire with Golden Points extra time added. Both sets of player gave it their all in the end as they refused to give up.
GB got so close to winning the game after winning a penalty in front of goal and opting for the attempt a goal. The man of the moment TOM EMERY stepped up but he missed it.
Samoa went on to win the game after the restart of of the second half of extra time as ELISAPETA ALOFIPO dabbed the ball forward and collected it to score Golden Points.
New Zealand 26 - 21 Canada
The All Blacks dressed in white, came out all guns blazing and they looked like they were going to blast Canada off the park as they scored 19 unanswered points wiCanah the Canadians missing a golden opportunity at the end of the half with New Zealand down by one player due to a yellow card offense.
Canada struck back in a game of two halves, scoring two successive tries on the up.
MATTHEW PERCILLIER scores to level things up and COOPER COATS slots the conversion kick to take the lead.
New Zealand digs deep to get one more score in the death through FEHI FINEANGANOFO and New Zealand is through to the 9th place final.
Round 3:
Canada 12-33 Spain
The Spanish got off to good start as they showed with all intent that they mean business against this Canadian outfit.
ENRIQUE BOLINCHES & TOBIAS SAINZ-TRAPAGA scored two early tries for Spain before JACK CARSON got Canada closer.
Canada missed an opportunity to score as a try is overturned and possession handed back to the Spanish who make good use of it before the half time whistle. ANTON LEGORBURU ANSO scored on the cusp.
Spain picked up where they left off in the 1st half, scoring an early 2nd half try through EDUARDO LOPEZ.
The Canadians managed to score another one in a losing battle before Spain took the game away from them through a JAIME MANTECA try.
Argentina 19-5 South Africa
South Africa gets on the board early after a terrible yellow card call by the Ref against Argentina but the Pumas fight back and they score after JOAQUIN PELLANDINI chases down a kick an gets the bounce.
The Pumas go up in front after a try by HSBC player of the year RODRIGO ISGRO.
The South Africans made things difficult for themselves in the 2nd half as they struggled with discipline and handling errors.
Ricky Duarte made a try saving tackle on MARCOS MONETA but the speedster then went on to score in the opposite corner as it surely started looking like a Pumas win.
The horror show continued for the Blitzboks as they went down.
France 19-14 Samoa
France got off to a quick start with a VARIAN PASQUET try but from there it was a tussle between these two sides before Samoa finally managed to score at the cusp of half time through ELISAPETA ALOFIPO.
The struggle for supremacy continued in the 2nd half in this equally contested affair, the French managing to get the upper hand with a try from JOSEPH JEFFERSON LEE.
With about 50s left on the clock the French managed to seal the W with that man JOSEPH JEFFERSON LEE scoring another one.
The Samoans get a consolation try at the end through PAUL SCANLAN.
Fiji 21-14 New Zealand
New Zealand applied early pressure on Fiji with a deep kick off and trapped them inside their own 22. The Fijians gave away a couple of penalties and got rewarded with a yellow card.
The Kiwis then made good use of the numerical advantage they had as they scored two tries through LEROY CARTER and REGAN WARE.
Fiji then managed to close the gap a try at the cusp of half time through PONEPATI LOGANIMASI.
The Fijians refused to go away and TERIO TAMANI scored a spectacular try as he steps and then sells a dummy pass to run straight through to level things up.
This one threatened to go into extra time but VIWA NADUVALO makes a break and wins it for Fiji at the death.
Great Britain 10-17 United States
The USA showed early on how dangerous they can be when they turn pressure on defense into attack and the pace of PERRY BAKER seems outrages as he scores with no space on his wing.
The USA scores another but GB manages to respond before the half time whistle as KALEEM BARRETO scores in the left corner.
The USA manages to hang in there and finish off as the victors in this encounter with another 2nd half try.
Australia 10-19 Ireland
It was a tightly contested affair between these two nations who refused to give away anything but the host nation Australia managed to get on scoreboard with only a couple of seconds left in the 1st half.
It was a game of two halves as the Irish turned up the heat early in the 2nd half scoring a couple of tries with TERRY KENNEDY going in back-to-back.
HENRY PALMER scores a consolation for Australia at the death as they go down swinging.
Pool A
Results
Canada 12 - 33 Spain
Argentina 19 - 5 South Africa
Pool B
Results
Great Britain 10 - 17 United States
Australia 10 - 19 Ireland
Pool C
Results
France 19 - 14 Samoa
Fiji 21 - 14 New Zealand