USA, one of four qualifiers from HSBC SVNS 2 for the season-ending World Championship Series, got the better of Spain and Australia to finish day one at the top of Pool C and claim a quarter-final slot.
Starting the weekend 11th in the table, USA need a strong run at Stade Atlantique to climb into the top eight – but their Friday heroics mean they have a chance to pick up the points they need.
Bottom side Great Britain, meanwhile, kicked off their day with a shock win over leaders South Africa, helped by Scotland international winger Darcy Graham on his first outing for the sevens’ squad.
Those results and an opening defeat to New Zealand meant hosts and reigning Olympic champions France – seventh in the standings coming into the weekend – were looking nervously at the bottom end of the table.
POOL A: Fiji start slow but finish strong
Fiji got into their groove after the mid-point break of their opening match against a spirited Kenya side, a brilliant 100m team try finished in style by George Bose kick-starting a through-the-gears second half that took the score from 12-7 to 31-12.
For the second weekend in a row, a sapping tournament opener between leaders South Africa and bottom-of-the-standings Great Britain – with deluxe injury replacement Graham straight into the try-scoring action – went to golden point. In Valladolid, the result went the Blitzboks’ way. This time, however, men’s rookie-of-the-year nominee Finley Lloyd-Gilmour raced clear to claim a famous 19-14 win for Great Britain.
But they were unable to double down on their opening win, as a relentless Fiji wore them down to claim a 26-12 win, their second of the opening day.
Two first-half tries for Shilton van Wyk and two in the second for Quewin Nortje were more than enough for South Africa to right their quarter-final challenge after their shock opening defeat with a no-fuss 26-5 victory over Kenya.
POOL B: USA stun Australia to claim top spot
USA recorded their first pool phase victory of the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series, beating Spain 24-19. But the win could come at a high price – David Still suffered a hamstring injury while scoring a 100m second-half try.
And, with their HSBC SVNS future on the line, they claimed their second later in the day. They had the upper hand early against Valladolid champions Australia, after captain Steve Tomasin and Lucas Lacamp helped them to a 14-5 half-time lead.
But, with the clock in the red at the end of the match, they were 17-14 down and in their own half – only to patiently work their way upfield for Lacamp to dive over for the crucial score. The 19-17 result was enough assure them a quarter-final slot.
Earlier, Australia had opened their Bordeaux account in clinical mood with a comprehensive 43-12 win over Uruguay – Aden Ekanayake scoring a hat-trick and captain Henry Hutchison weighing in with a brace.
Spain, meanwhile, recovered from their opening defeat, Nicolas Nieto scoring two of their six tries as they beat Uruguay 42-17.
POOL C: Hosts France dig themselves out of early trouble
Roderick Solo scored a last-ditch rub-of-the-game try with the clock in the red, as New Zealand came back from two scores down in the second half to beat host nation France 26-21.
That result turned the men’s Olympic champions’ second outing – the final match of the day – against Argentina into a must-win. An intense, nerve-shredding and momentum-swinging 14 minutes later, Gregoire Arfeuil darted over in the corner to seal a 22-14 win and keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
After their late, late victory over France, the All Blacks Sevens, made it two from two with a rather more straightforward five-try 33-7 win over an injury-hit Germany side, who have called in a trio academy players to bolster their squad in Bordeaux.
Kitiona Vai got the scoreboard moving with less than a minute on the clock, while Ngarohi McGarvey-Black, Sione Molia, Roderick Solo, and Fletcher Morgan also touched down. Germany never stopped playing, however, and captain Philip Gleitze got their deserved consolation score with the final play of the game.
Earlier, Los Pumas’ flier Marcos Moneta edged closer to 200 international sevens tries with a double in Argentina’s 35-19 victory over Germany. A brace against France, too, put him level on 40 tries for the season with the HSBC SVNS Series’ leading try-scorer, Fiji’s Viwa Naduvalo.