HSBC SVNS: South Africa, Fiji and Spain could yet end Argentina's Vancouver streak

South Africa face Fiji and Argentina will take on Spain in Sunday's men's semi-finals of the HSBC SVNS event in Vancouver. All four showed in their pool and quarter-finals they are capable of going on to clinch a series win.

Quarter-finals

South Africa avenged their extra-time defeat by Australia in their final pool game by winning their quarter-final tie against the same opponents 17-14, though somehow that score does not reflect the Blitzboks' dominance.

Ronald Brown ran in a try in the first minute, and for his team's second score he picked up possession from Sebastiaan Jobb before feeding big Ryan Oosthuizen to cross the line in the corner.

South Africa were tackling ferociously, resulting in Australia being unable to lift their heads to see a route out of their own half.

The Boks moved 17-0 ahead by half-time. From a scrum, Selvyn Davids moved to the left in midfield, pulling Australia’s defence with him far enough so that he could rotate and pass to Shilton van Wyk, who cut through the disjointed amber line and had the vastness of a Canadian prairie to run through unchallenged before scoring.

Tristan Leyds was in the sin-bin for a cynical foul when Ben Dowling made use of Australia's numerical advantage to go over and, though Josh Turner's steal and dart for the line narrowed the gap, South Africa were worthy winners.

“We knew we had let ourselves down in the previous game," said Oosthuizen. "We just wanted to rectify that. I hadn’t scored a try in a while so I am quite happy with that.”

Fiji were just as impressive in their 24-0 demolition of Great Britain. Three of their tries were the result of power and height, while their final score came from a burst of speed.

Sevuloni Mocenacagi swatted away a couple of navy blue jerseys on his way to the opening try, and Joseva Talacolo, after the horn had sounded for half-time, palmed off his opponent with one hand while he held the ball high out of reach up with his other before bounding through to score.

George Bose's aggression made important yards for try number three. From the penalty he won, Joji Nasova scored in the corner after being played in by a quick-tap penalty.

And it was physical prowess of a different kind - pure speed - that propelled Waisea Nacuqu to round off the scoring.

Argentina made it 21 wins in a row in Vancouver with a 12-7 success against France in the last eight.

France had won only one of their past seven matches against Argentina in the HSBC SVNS. When Stephen Parez-Edo Martin was sin-binned for sticking out a hand to slap the ball, Los Pumas sensed their chance.

Santiago Mare scored after a pass from the back of the scrum from Joaquin Pellandini, but France made it 7-7 after the interval when Argentina lost possession from their own lineout and Enzo Benmegal and Paulin Riva helped Simon Desert restore parity.

Argentina kept their focus and in the last play their pressure on the French defence paid off when Matias Osadczuk collected a looping pass to dot down the winner and set up a semi-final against Spain.

New Zealand had stood in Spain's way and had led 7-0 through Tone Ng Shiu at half-time. With 90 seconds remaining Spain won a penalty owing to New Zealand not rolling away, and from the scrum Alejandro Laforga fed Francisco Cosculluela to make it 7-7.

The match went to extra-time during which Anton Legorburu broke the line and marked a place in the last four with an artful dive as he touched down.

Meanwhile, USA and Uruguay will meet on day three in the playoff for ninth place after respective wins over Ireland and Kenya.

Pool matches

Pool A: Los Pumas too strong for France

Argentina and France met earlier on day two in their final Pool A tie. Joaquin Pellandini put Los Pumas ahead within two minutes and France generally restrained their opponent's attack by their defence flying out to engage aggressively.

When Argentina did find space and looked to go two tries ahead, France captain Stephen Parez-Edo Martin was sin-binned for intentionally fouling at the ruck one metre out.

While he was clicking his heels on the touchline, Agustin Fraga made it 12-0 and although Perez-Edo Martin scored on his return to the fray, Argentina won 12-5 and topped the section. France advanced as one of the two best teams in third place.

Great Britain finished in second spot after beating Kenya 28-10. Kenya has briefly threatened an upset when Great Britain's Luke Mehson engaged in a crocodile roll with Floyd Wabwire but the Kenyan had the strength to touch down right in front of the celebrating Kenya fans for the opening score.

Pool B: Hooray Henrys

South Africa finished top of Pool B despite Josh Turner's golden point in overtime giving Australia a 17-12 win in their final pool match.

Ronald Brown caught the eye with his exquisite change of direction wrong-footing the retreating Australians and setting up Impi Visser for the opening try. Brown then made an immense saving tackle on Aden Ekanayake to prevent Australia drawing level. No wonder he punched the air in celebration.

Henrys Hutchison and Paterson scored for Australia and Shilton van Wyk for South Africa to tie the game at 12-all before Turner's match-winner in the extra period of play.

New Zealand and Ireland served up a cracker, with the Kiwis doing just enough to clinch second place in the pool. Three times the All Blacks scored, three times Ireland replied with scores of their own. Jayden Keelan scored his first try for New Zealand in that six-try exchange and then added a second to take his team out to 26-21 before Oli Mathis made it a 31-21 win.

Pool C: Unlucky Uruguay

Spain and Fiji provided plenty of excitement in their third and final pool match. Spain, despite being without the experienced Pol Pla and Manu Moreno, were on course for a 21-14 success before Filipe Sauturaga scored in the final play, and the Fijian was the hero in overtime with the winning try.

Uruguay took the USA's scalp with a 10-7 win but they were the third-placed team with the fewest points so did not advance to the quarter-finals. Alfonso Chahnazaroff and Tomas Etcheverry overturned the first score by Lucas Lacamp to register the victory.