England and Australia reached their pool-deciding final match of the day unbeaten after wins over Wales and Kenya, and England, a four-time victor in Dubai, was always in control in a 21-5 win.
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After beating Portugal 45-14 but losing to France 26-21, the Americans looked destined for the consolation round when they trailed New Zealand 12-7 as the buzzer sounded.
Meanwhile, Jerry Tuwai won the HSBC player of the final.
It was a good effort to win the final despite not having Chloe Dalton and influential captain Sharni Williams available, but Australia started the Series strongly, and we know that other teams have more room to improve.
United States’ Folau Niua, left, tackles New Zealand’s Scott Curry during the Eagles’ Rudby upset over the All Blacks on Friday.
Samoa hit back soon after the restart with Tila Mealoi haring across to go under the posts.
Friday, U.S. wing Perry Baker, who played two years with the Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League before converting to rugby, tied the game at 12, before Madison Hughes converted the two-point dropkick to seal the victory. It also marks the second time in the last four Series events that Canada has been eliminated in the Cup quarter-finals.
England scored two tries in the second half, but it was not enough to win.
“We scored a lot of points and our defence on the whole was OK, with a couple of soft tries conceded”.
Fiji’s aforementioned, dominant win over the Argentinians saw them top their group and they will now face Australia, whose 21-5 reverse to England saw their triumphant opponents head off on a path towards the Pumas instead.
“We haven’t fully revealed our hand as yet”. We’ve had some incredible games against them, some highs and lows, but it’s never an easy game. “We haven’t played at full throttle and we’re going to need to tomorrow”.
If all the teams keep playing like they did in the Dubai Sevens for the rest of the year the Aussies will be hard to beat in any of the remaining three tournaments in the HSBC Sevens World Series, or at the Olympics.
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Elsewhere, the defending Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens champions South Africa enjoyed a 100 per cent record in Pool B to secure their safe passage through ahead of runners-up Samoa.
