Canadian rugby sevens men win twice to advance to Cup quarterfinals in London

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The Canadian men have won just four of 49 World Series meetings with Fiji. But they won last time out, defeating the Fijians 22-14 in Cape Town in December.

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Fiji went unbeaten Saturday, topping Argentina, Scotland and New Zealand. The Fijians are after their third World Series title in four years before taking aim at the Rugby Sevens World Cup in July.

In the other Cup quarter-finals, it’s the U.S. versus Ireland, South Africa versus New Zealand and Australia versus England.

Two-time defending London champion Scotland failed to win a match Saturday.

Carlin Isles scored six tries on the day to pass fellow American speedster Perry Baker as the leading try-scorer, upping his season total to 41.

Ireland, meanwhile, made history by reaching the Cup quarter-finals for the first time, clinching second place in its pool on points differential courtesy of a 38-10 victory over Spain.

Each tournament sees one invitational team join the 15 core teams on the World Series. Ireland’s success marks the first time a non-core team has reached the quarter-finals since Japan did it as Las Vegas in 2016.

Ireland did it in its first appearance in the series since 2004.

The Canadians opened play Saturday with a 14-0 win over Samoa thanks to tries by Isaac Kaay and Justin Douglas.

Canada then lost to South Africa despite the Blitzboks going down to six men after Dylan Sage received a yellow card.  Ryan Oosthuizen, Phillip Snyman and Werner Kok scored tries for South Africa.

Mike Fuailefau had two tries and Douglas, Nate Hirayama and Matt Mullins added singles in the 29-10 win over Russia.

Canada’s best finish this season was a fourth in Cape Town, losing to host South Africa in the bronze-medal game in the second stop of the Series. But after an injury-riddled season, Canada coach Damian McGrath has been able to bring almost a full squad to London.

The Canadians placed 11th in Dubai, 13th in Sydney, 11th in Hamilton, 10th in Las Vegas, 14th in Vancouver, 10th in Hong Kong and 10th in Singapore (where it won the previous season).

The World Series season ends next weekend in Paris.

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With files from The Associated Press.

The Canadian Press