Day two at the HSBC France Sevens in Toulouse delivered huge upsets as the top three sides in the men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series standings were knocked out and New Zealand failed to reach the quarter-finals for the first time ever, while Australia and New Zealand impressively progressed to the final four in the women’s event.
Searing heat provided challenging conditions for the players on an action-packed day that saw Ireland, Samoa, France and Fiji progress to the final four in the men’s event.
But some of the biggest stories of the day were written in the morning session, with a dramatic conclusion to the Pool stage in the men’s event.
Samoa earned their third win in three games to beat Series leaders South Africa 19-7, marking the Blitzboks’ first failure to reach the Cup quarter-finals since Hong Kong in 2013.
The shocks didn’t stop there, as New Zealand’s 29-14 defeat to Australia made some unwanted All Blacks Sevens history as they failed to progress to the quarters for the first time ever.
South Africa’s failure to make it to the knockout stages opened the door to the other title contenders, Argentina and Australia, but they suffered quarter-final defeats against Ireland and France respectively.
New Zealand’s women fared much better, reaching the semi-finals without conceding a single point, while champions Australia joined them there with a fourth consecutive victory.
