The All Blacks sevens side are a better unit than they were for their gold medal at this year's Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, according to stalwart Kurt Baker.

Having defeated France 12-7 at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, New Zealand will face rivals Fiji in the semi-final tomorrow, looking to add a world title to their trophy cabinet.

Speaking to 1 NEWS after the win, Baker said that the side have improved since their Commonwealth Games glory earlier this year.

"We've grown a lot as a team since the Gold Coast," he said.

Baker also credited new coach Clark Laidlaw, having re-ignited New Zealand's chances in the men's World Series."

"He made a lot of changes, some of them were pretty tough for the boys to work around.

"But we're starting to get some momentum. We've got a big semi-final against Fiji.</s>England will play New Zealand in the World Cup Sevens final after an impressive 29-7 win over South Africa in San Francisco.

They fell behind inside three minutes to the reigning World Sevens Series champions but responded impressively and built a 17-7 interval advantage through tries by Harry Glover, Tom Mitchell and Ruaridh McConnochie, with Mitchell adding one conversion.

England's outstanding work at the breakdown rocked their opponents and a fourth try arrived early in the second period when McConnochie crossed.

South Africa could not get into the game and Dan Norton completed a memorable victory by scoring England's fifth try.

England progress to a decider with holders New Zealand, who beat Fiji 22-17 in the other semi-final.

Joe Ravouvou gave New Zealand the early lead with a try in the corner before Fiji punished poor tackling to hit back through Semi Radradra.

New Zealand's ferocious play at the breakdown reaped its rewards when they were awarded a penalty for an infringement at a ruck, and a quick tap saw the ball spun wide quickly for Dylan Collier who dotted down to make it 10-7.

There was controversy when Fiji were awarded a second try soon afterwards through Amenoni Nasilasila, despite replays appearing to show he had put a foot in touch before scoring.

New Zealand, however, shrugged off the setback and responded with a clinical second-half performance.

Regan Ware darted through a gap for the New Zealanders' third try to make it 15-12, and then another well-worked move sent Ravouvou over in the corner for his second try of the game.

In the Challenge competition, Ireland beat Wales 27-12 to book a final date with Australia.</s>England beat hosts USA to advance to semis at RWC Sevens

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — English captain Tom Mitchell found some space on the pitch about 30 meters away from the try line. He glanced to his left and saw a big patch of open field so he lofted a high kick toward the sideline.

The English flanker caught the ball at full pace and outran a diving defender before touching down to secure a 24-19 sudden-death win in extra-time against host United States in the Rugby World Cup Sevens quarterfinals on Saturday.

"A ridiculous kick by 'Mitch' in that kind of cauldron," said teammate Dan Norton.

England needed extra time to win after Perry Baker streaked down the field to score a match-leveling try with about 2:30 left in regulation time. After winning the Las Vegas leg of the Rugby Sevens World Series earlier this year, USA entered with title aspirations and enjoyed the support of a raucous home crowd at AT&T Park, home to baseball's San Francisco Giants, but can now finish no better than fifth.

"We pride ourselves on being best in the world at the restart," said American prop Danny Barrett, "but they got us there."

Burgess' try marked the most scintillating sequence of Saturday's action.

England's win sends them to Sunday's first semifinal against top seed South Africa, which cruised to a 36-5 win over Scotland, which second-seeded Fiji dominated Argentina 43-7 in another quarterfinal.

Third-seeded New Zealand overcame three first-half yellow cards to prevent an upset from No. 11 seed France in a sloppy 12-7 victory.

"We played terrible," All Blacks coach Clark Laidlaw said. "But in knockout format, who cares? We managed to find a way to win."

The All Blacks won't be able to get away with the same mistakes against a humming Fiji squad in Sunday's semifinal. Fiji and New Zealand are both vying to become the first three-time winners of the Melrose Cup.

"They've got a lot of rockstars in there," Laidlaw said. "I guess everybody sees them as favorites."

South Africa claimed their second straight world series title in June after leaping past Fiji on the final day of action and the two could meet in Sunday's final. The Blitzboks feature the tournament's top two scorers in Siviwe Soyizwapi (25 points) and Justin Gedlund (22).

Each of the 24 men's squads only played one match on Saturday. Laidlaw criticized the format of the tournament and how his team will only play one match in a span of about 40 hours.

"Not sevens is it?" Laidlaw said. "I don't know what sport we're trying to create. But it's the same for everybody, so we've got to get on with it."

New Zealand repeated as world cup champions on the women's side of the tournament with a 29-0 victory over France while Australia topped the United States 24-14 in the bronze medal game.</s>Scotland have clawed their way back from the dead to advance to the quarter-finals at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, defeating Kenya 31-26.

With Kenya having taken a 26-0 lead late into the second half, Scotland held out with Scott Riddell scoring, before a penalty try had them back in the match.

Kenya found themselves with two men in the bin for the final stages, as Scotland brought the scores back to 26-24 in the last minute, with Robbie Fergusson nailing a sideline conversion to level things up.

Jamie Farndale then capitalised on Scotland's numerical advantage, scoring in the corner with the final moment of the game, giving the Bravehearts a ridiculous win, sending them through to the tournament quarter-final.

Scotland will next face the winner of Ireland and South Africa tomorrow.</s>SAN FRANCISCO – The Canadian men finished in 12th spot at the Rugby Sevens World Cup tournament in San Francisco on Sunday after a 35-12 loss against Wales.

Canada lost to Australia in the Challenge semifinals 19-7 earlier on Sunday, leaving it with its matchup against Wales.

The Canadians were eliminated from title contention in the round of 16 following a 28-0 shutout at the hands of Argentina on Friday.

The Canadian women’s team was knocked out from title contention Friday after a 24-19 loss to France. They finished seventh overall.</s>England have snuffed out the USA's chances of a Rugby World Cup Sevens win on home soil in San Francisco, coming away with a thrilling 24-19 golden point quarter-final win.

The hosts got out to an early lead, with Madison Hughes scoring after just seconds, only for a double to Dan Norton and another try to Oliver Lindsay-Hague pushed England ahead at the break.

The USA didn't go down without a fight though, with Folau Niua and Perry Baker both crossing over for tries, levelling scores at 19-19.

Extra time and golden point followed, which England claimed in style.

Phil Burgess latched onto a cross-field kick, running away to score in the corner, sending England to the semi-finals.

England will next face Fiji, while New Zealand and Fiji play in the second semi-final.</s>SAN FRANCISCO — English captain Tom Mitchell found some space on the pitch about 30 meters away from the try line. He glanced to his left and saw a big patch of open field so he lofted a high kick toward the sideline.

The English flanker caught the ball at full pace and outran a diving defender before touching down to secure a 24-19 sudden-death win in extra-time against host United States in the Rugby World Cup Sevens quarterfinals on Saturday.

“A ridiculous kick by ‘Mitch’ in that kind of cauldron,” said teammate Dan Norton.

England needed extra time to win after Perry Baker streaked down the field to score a match-leveling try with about 2:30 left in regulation time. After winning the Las Vegas leg of the Rugby Sevens World Series earlier this year, USA entered with title aspirations and enjoyed the support of a raucous home crowd at AT&T Park, home to baseball’s San Francisco Giants, but can now finish no better than fifth.

“We pride ourselves on being best in the world at the restart,” said American prop Danny Barrett, “but they got us there.”

Burgess’ try marked the most scintillating sequence of Saturday’s action.

England’s win sends them to Sunday’s first semifinal against top seed South Africa, which cruised to a 36-5 win over Scotland, which second-seeded Fiji dominated Argentina 43-7 in another quarterfinal.

Third-seeded New Zealand overcame three first-half yellow cards to prevent an upset from No. 11 seed France in a sloppy 12-7 victory.

“We played terrible,” All Blacks coach Clark Laidlaw said. “But in knockout format, who cares? We managed to find a way to win.”

The All Blacks won’t be able to get away with the same mistakes against a humming Fiji squad in Sunday’s semifinal. Fiji and New Zealand are both vying to become the first three-time winners of the Melrose Cup.

“They’ve got a lot of rockstars in there,” Laidlaw said. “I guess everybody sees them as favorites.”

South Africa claimed their second straight world series title in June after leaping past Fiji on the final day of action and the two could meet in Sunday’s final. The Blitzboks feature the tournament’s top two scorers in Siviwe Soyizwapi (25 points) and Justin Gedlund (22).

Each of the 24 men’s squads only played one match on Saturday. Laidlaw criticized the format of the tournament and how his team will only play one match in a span of about 40 hours.

“Not sevens is it?” Laidlaw said. “I don’t know what sport we’re trying to create. But it’s the same for everybody, so we’ve got to get on with it.”

New Zealand repeated as world cup champions on the women’s side of the tournament with a 29-0 victory over France while Australia topped the United States 24-14 in the bronze medal game.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>It was not the trophy England’s women had set their eyes on when they plotted their season, but James Bailey’s side have taken much ­consolation from lifting the ­Challenge Cup at the World Sevens Cup here after an emphatic 31-5 win over Japan.

Despite the silverware, it was still ninth place out of 16 competing teams after they had been knocked out by Ireland in the first round of the World Cup proper.

In the second-tier competition, which was fought for by the eight teams who were knocked out in the round of 16, England only conceded one try in three games. However, the route to the “other” final was relatively easy for a team of England’s calibre with emphatic wins over Mexico, who failed to score in the entire tournament, and China.

Yet England took the opportunity to show the calibre and ­composure of a squad containing six Olympians and nine Commonwealth Games bronze medallists.

Natasha Hunt credited her side’s determination in only conceding once after their departure from the main draw. “That massively showed our resolve,” she said. “It shows the strength of character of the group, we were bitterly disappointed that we didn’t put our best foot forward in the first game, but to come out and fight for each other, the other girls back home, our support staff. One try in three games, I didn’t even know that stat, that is ­brilliant.”</s>The honeymoon is over for Australia's new men's rugby sevens coach Tim Walsh, who was left to rue his side's simple errors in a disappointing early World Cup exit.



Australia fell at their first hurdle in San Francisco this morning, upset 22-17 by France in the knock-out tournament.



They will be haunted by the hulking figure of Tavite Turaganibuli Veredamu, who scored twice in the upset win.



Things looked up when Lachie Anderson latched onto a grubber for the game's first try.



But a follow-up five-pointer went begging and the game turned from that point on.



France replied and then went ahead with the final play of half-time when Terry Bouhraoua dashed from inside his own half for a 12-10 lead.



Poor defence again hurt Australia in the second half but they still had a chance to win it, down by five with ball in hand after the hooter.



But a knock-on snuffed out the fairytale finish and any chance of a World Cup crown in what has been a frustrating season.



"Everyone's hurting immensely; but you can't win games when you let through that many breaks, missed tackles and at the end there, we';ve got control of the game, got the ball and we turned it over," Walsh said.



"We're disappointed because that wasn't our best and errors there that cost us."



Former women's coach Walsh took over from Andy Friend after April's Commonwealth Games, with the men having won the Sydney World Series leg earlier in the year.



Hamstrung by constant injuries, they've thrown up mixed results all year but entered AT&T Park with a healthy squad confident they could make a run for the title.



Instead they will play for the minor placings, with Russia their next assignment on Sunday morning (AEST).



"You work so hard and you want to get out there and perform for family, friends and country ... you give it everything and don't get the result, it hurts."</s>England have reached the Rugby Sevens World Cup semi-finals after beating hosts USA 24-19.

They will play World Series champions South Africa for a place in the final on Sunday.

England won the game in extra-time after Phil Burgess latched on to Tom Mitchell's crossfield kick to seal the win.

The United States took an early 7-0 lead through captain Madison Hughes' converted try before two tries from England's Dan Norton gave them a 12-7 lead at the break.

Ollie Lindsay-Hague increased their lead straight from the second-half restart before the United States fought back with tries from Folau Niua and Perry Baker to make it 19-19 and send the game to extra-time.

Mitchell found Burgess in space to allow him to touch down in the corner and win the game for England.

England captain Mitchell thinks that the team's self-belief was key.

"It was always going to be a tight one playing the USA at home here in San Francisco," he said.

"But that was an unbelievable effort from the squad where we demonstrated a massive amount of trust to stick in it and believe in ourselves

"When it goes down to extra time like that it's something we've worked on and something that we've talked about.

"It's about sticking in the moment together and I think we really leaned on that to get the final score at the end."

England last won the Sevens World Cup in 1993. They finished runners-up in the last tournament, losing to New Zealand. Mitchell says the fans can inspire them.

"We're so grateful for all the England fans out there," he added.

"There were lot of St George's flags flying around in the crowd and to look up and see that is amazing so far away from home.

"That's what's special about sevens - you realise you can connect with people around the world who are supporting England."
New Zealand defeats England 33–12 in the final to win the 2018 men's Rugby World Cup Sevens.