Where can you watch some of the world’s fittest athletes, watch a dance contest between a fancy-dress horse and jockey and receive a marriage proposal from a stranger you shared a lift with? The London Sevens. The serious business for England involved hanging on to make Sunday’s quarter-finals despite succumbing to a 31-14 defeat against the United States. England had earlier beaten France 34-0 and put in another emphatic performance to defeat Kenya 38-12. Making the quarter-final was key for England, who lie eighth in the World Series rankings but have rallied with bronze both at the Commonwealth Games and Singapore Sevens. While the action on the field counts for a lot in the penultimate tournament of the World Series, the majority of fans are not quite as rapt as those you would find at a Twickenham Test. It would seem that the London Sevens attracts four tribes of supporters. Despite calls for rugby’s short form to tone down the party image, there still remain the fancy-dress speed daters, roaming groups of young men clad in superhero costumes and female counterparts dressed as nuns or less modest Lady Gaga-inspired attire.<doc-sep>England will face Australia in the London Sevens cup quarter-finals after leaving it late to book their place in the last-eight, giving captain Tom Mitchell a half-century to remember as he celebrated his 50th tournament on home soil. Mitchell was given a standing ovation as he took to the field alone to soak up the applause ahead of England’s game against the United States, having sat out the opener with France, but defeat left England staring potential elimination from the cup competition unless they could beat Kenya in the day’s final encounter. But after a brilliant response in a six-try win over the African side, Mitchell took a moment to soak up the magnitude of the event, which comes as the penultimate tournament of the World Series. “It was lovely,” Mitchell told The Independent. “Obviously I wanted to get going in the first game but wasn’t allowed to play in that one. It was a nice moment, it’s been a great week and there’s been a huge amount of support from everyone at home and particularly from my teammates and my family. It’s nice to have this moment to sort of reflect a little bit because we probably don’t do that enough in this game, it’s always looking for the next improvement and the next challenge, so it’s been a nice week. “As it always is with Sevens, it was a day of ups and downs. A good performance in the first game against France and then we just got a few things wrong against the USA who are a strong side and we just didn’t get a lot of ball. We made life difficult for ourselves there, but the resilience that the boys showed in that last one against Kenya, who have had a good season and are a good side, if you get it wrong against them they can punish you so I’m really pleased with how we came back into it and finished it off.” The hosts made the dream start, recording the biggest victory of the first round as they thrashed France 34-0, before the United States stopped them in their tracks with a demoralising 31-14 defeat that left Simon Amor’s side on the brink of cup elimination. Dan Bibby in action for England against France (Getty) Running out in the final game in the first batch of group fixtures, England put on a show for those early birds that had made the effort to get here for the morning’s action. Four tries in the first half saw both Alex Davis and Dan Norton go over before Ollie Lindsay-Hague bagged a double inside two minutes, and when he completed his hat-trick – along with a second from Norton – England looked to be on course for top spot after the US could only draw 19-19 with Kenya. England continued to look in cruise control midway through their second match as Norton inspired the hosts to a 14-5 lead at the break, with the all-time leading try scorer crossing twice to take his personal tally to four for the day – with his second a brilliant foot race between himself and American flyer Carlin Isles. Pool C results Kenya 19-19 USA England 34-0 France Kenya 24-21 France England 14-31 USA USA 38-14 France England 38-12 Kenya But the second half quickly saw England lose their way as the US responded to former England coach Mike Friday’s half-time team talk. Demanding more intensity, US head coach Friday got exactly what he wanted as two messy restarts fell in their favour and allowed Folau Niua and Stephen Tomasin to cross – though the latter looked to have lost control while grounding the ball that the television match official decided wasn’t clear enough to overturn. With the US in front, Norton went from hero to zero as he found himself sent to the sin-bin for a tackle in the air, and Isles took full advantage, scoring twice to pass injured teammate Perry Baker as this season’s top try scorer on the Sevens circuit. When Willy Ambaka struck early to put Kenya ahead in the day’s final match, the writing appeared on the wall for the hosts. But it only went as far as to trigger a response in two tries apiece from Lindsey-Hague and Mike Ellery, as well as fifth Norton try of the tournament, and there was enough time for Charlie Hayter to add the cherry on the cake to seal the 38-12 win. England will face Australia in the quarter-finals with the US taking on Ireland in what is an already incredible achievement for the side that has been invited to play in both the London and Paris legs of the Sevens circuit. In what came down to a shootout between the Irish and nearby rivals Wales, a 21-19 victory in favour of the team in red was not enough to pip the Emerald Isle due to points difference, meaning that they will face France in the Trophy quarters. Fiji made the biggest statement of the day with a 27-7 win over New Zealand (Getty) Meanwhile, defending London Sevens champions Scotland bowed out of the cup reckoning with a whimper as they suffered three straight defeats, albeit in a nasty-looking group that contained World Series leaders Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina. After consecutive 24-12 and 39-12 defeats by Fiji and the All Blacks respectively, Scotland suffered a narrow 22-19 loss to Argentina to confirm them as bottom in Pool A, handing them a trophy quarter-final against Russia. Fiji meanwhile left it late to send out a statement as they thrashed New Zealand 22-7 in Saturday’s standout fixture. As if the Fijian squad was not strong enough already, they were able to draft in two handy reinforcements this week in the form of Toulon backs Semi Radradra and Josua Tuisova, just one week after they helped put nine tries past England in the Barbarians’ famous victory here at Twickenham last Sunday.<doc-sep>The Canadian men's rugby sevens took back-to-back losses on the final day of competition at the World Rugby Sevens Series event in London. Fiji defeated South Africa 21-17 Sunday to win the London Sevens tourney, its fourth straight tournament victory — and fifth in the last six stops — on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. The Blitzboks made it exciting, scoring a try with 35 seconds to close the margin to two points. But they could not get the ball back at the restart and Fiji ran out the clock to extend its win streak on the circuit to 25 games. Ireland, an invitational side, capped its dream run at Twickenham by defeating England 21-19 to finish third. Each tournament sees one invitational team join the 15 core teams on the World Series. Ireland is the first non-core country to earn a medal. Canada finished tied for seventh after losses to Fiji and the U.S. on Sunday. It marked the Canadian men's second-best result of the 2017-18 campaign, following a fourth in Cape Town in December. Fiji routs Canada in World Rugby Sevens Series Cup quarter-final Sports 20:00 Fiji outpaced Canada 40-7 in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series London Cup quarter-final 20:00 Fiji extended its their lead atop the season standings with 167 points, seven ahead off No. 2 South Africa. New Zealand, which finished fifth here, is third at 133 points Canada moved up from 11th to ninth. Fiji is after its third World Series title in four years before taking aim at the Rugby Sevens World Cup in July. The World Series season ends next weekend in Paris. Josua Tuisova, Paula Dranisinukula and Jasa Veremalua scored for Fiji in the final, which was tied 7-7 at the half. Stedman Gans, Ruhan Nel and Zain Davids replied for South Africa, which lost star strike runners Cecil Afrika and Branko du Preez to injury Saturday. After making the Cup quarter-final for just the second time this season, Canada ran into a red-hot Fiji side. The Pacific Islanders posted an easy 40-7 win before Canada's campaign ended 27-19 in a seesaw battle with the U.S. Canada went 2-1 on the opening day, defeating Samoa and Russia and losing to South Africa. Harry Jones and Mike Fuailefau both scored milestones tries Saturday, with Jones touching down for his 100th World Series try while Fuailefau notched No. 50. But there was little to celebrate Sunday against Fiji as Canada was outclassed and outhit. Semi Radradra opened the scoring for Fiji, eluding three Canadian defenders and racing 75 metres for a try. Justin Douglas caught him near the line but could not stop the Fiji flyer, who plays club rugby in France for Toulon, from touching down. Fiji added to the lead off the ensuing restart. Canada lost the ball, gave up a penalty and Sevuloni Mocenacagi burst through defence. Canada cut the lead to 14-7 in the dying seconds of the half when Douglas beat his man to score his 40th try of the season. Fiji needed just 25 seconds to score in the second half, winning the restart before Dranisinukula ran in for the try. Kalione Nasoko, Veremalua and Vatemo Ravouvou added late tries as Fiji completed the rout against a tired Canadian side. The loss dropped Canada's World Series record against Fiji to 4-45-0. The Canadians won last time out, defeating the Fijians 22-14 in Cape Town in December. Kevon Williams scored two tries and Carlin Isles, Martin Iosefo and Madison Hughes added singles for the U.S. against Canada in a game that saw seven lead changes. Lucas Hammond, Jones and Douglas replied for Canada. The game turned late in the second half with the U.S., leading 20-19, mounting a defensive stand that ended with Canada's Nate Hirayama being cut down a metre or two from the try-line. Off the ensuing lineout, the Americans launched a slick attack from under their goalposts that Hughes finished off for the win 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. 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). But after an injury-riddled season, Canada coach Damian McGrath was able to bring almost a full squad to London. Canada will play in a pool with No. 2 South Africa, No. 11 Scotland and No. 15 Russia in Paris<doc-sep>The Canadian men's rugby sevens squad finished its preliminary pool play with a 29-10 win over Russia at the World Rugby Sevens Series event in London on Saturday, and earned a spot in the Cup quarter-finals on Sunday. Canada wasted no time taking an early lead against Russia, thanks to back-to-back tries by Mike Fuailefau and Nathan Hirayama. Russia responded with consecutive tries before the half, with a Hirayama conversion the difference in the 12-10 score line at half. Justin Douglas, Matt Mullins and Fuailefau added tries in the second half to put the match away and secure a quarter-final berth. Canada opens London Sevens with win over Samoa Sports 21:47 Isaac Kaay and Justin Douglas each scored a try as the Canadians began Group D pool play with a 14-0 win over Samoa at the men's HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series stop in London. 21:47 The top two qualifiers from the four pools advance to the quarter-finals. Canada, playing in just its second Cup quarter-finals this season, will face Fiji on Sunday at 5:58 a.m. ET (CBCSports.ca). In the other quarter-final matchups, Ireland will face the United States, South Africa will take on New Zealand and Australia will play England. Starting off on the right foot The Canadians began their tourney at Twickenham Stadium with a 14-0 win against Samoa, thanks to tries by Isaac Jonathan Kay and Justin Douglas, while Hirayama converted both kicks. Canada can't complete comeback against South Africa Sports 21:17 The Canadians turned up the heat late in their Group D match, but it wasn't enough as they fell 17-7 to the Blitzboks, levelling their record at the men's HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series stop in London. 21:17 The Canadians dropped their second match, a 17-7 decision to the defending series champions from South Africa. Harry Jones scored the lone try for Canada, which was unable to solve the Blitzboks, a team that has not lost a match to Canada in the past five years. You can also catch more rugby sevens action on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on CBC TV. Coverage continues on Sunday at 4:30 a.m. ET. Full Canadian roster<doc-sep>
England face a last-eight showdown with Australia at Twickenham on Sunday lunchtime England will face Australia in the HSBC London Sevens quarter-finals on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Action, after finishing second in Pool C on day one of the ninth leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series. In sunny conditions at Twickenham, England started with a comprehensive 34-0 victory over France, where Ollie Lindsay-Hague grabbed a hat-trick, but lost 31-14 to the USA in their second fixture. A 38-12 victory against Kenya in their final match of the day secured passage to the last eight, and a bout with Australia, who topped Pool B after victories over Ireland, Wales and Spain. Elsewhere, Ireland Sevens made history by qualifying for their very first cup quarter-final by finishing second in Pool B, and will face the winners of England's pool, the USA, on Sunday. The Irish, who were invited to the event and were appearing in the series for the first time since 2004, dispatched Spain 38-10 to make history. Ireland's Harry McNulty leaps for history, as the men in green make a first quarter-final ever Fiji took steps towards a fourth consecutive tournament win on the circuit with dominant victories over Argentina, Scotland and New Zealand to top Pool A. They will face Pool D runners-up Canada in the first of the cup quarter-finals. Fiji Sevens were in ominous form at Twickenham Stadium South Africa, despite a surprising defeat to Samoa, finished top of Pool D after wins over Canada and Russia and will face Pool A runners-up New Zealand in the quarters. Sunday's London Sevens quarter-finals Fiji v Canada USA v Ireland South Africa v New Zealand Australia v England Heading into that clash with Kenya, England were one point behind the Africans within their respective pool and knew only victory would do to survive - Kenya having registered one victory and one draw earlier in the day. Kenya enjoyed the majority of the ball in the opening minutes and took the lead when William Ambaka Ndayara ran in from distance, Lindsay-Hague responding for England by gathering his own kick ahead to level the game. A brilliant through-the-legs pass by Lindsay-Hague was the catalyst for Dan Norton's fifth of the afternoon, before Mike Ellery powered through to put England 19-7 up at the break. Dan Norton enjoyed a profitable day in London, notching five tries In a game which saw England's James Rodwell reach 400 matches on the World Rugby Sevens Series circuit when he appeared at half-time, Lindsay-Hague got his second from Phil Burgess' offload - also his fifth of the day. Ellery added a second to his account and Charlie Hayter crossed as England cruised into the quarter-finals, before Kenya added a consolation try at the death through Herman Humwa. Reaction England wing Dan Norton: "Obviously it was amazing to play in the sun, with the amazing support here but it was three really tough games across the board but it was nice to cap the day with a win and progress into the quarter-final. "It was kind of the perfect day in a way to play at home at Twickenham with family and friends watching and to get into the quarter-finals is just great." England back Ollie Lindsay-Hague: "It was a great feeling to be amongst the tries and hopefully I can keep going and keep scoring. "Australia will be a tough game as they're a very good side this season, we know what they're about but we're looking forward to it." England's day one results: Pool C: England 34-0 France Pool C: England 14-31 USA Pool C: England 38-12 Kenya Cup quarter-final: England v Australia (Sunday 3 June, 12.04pm, Sky Sports Action) Tune into Sky Sports Action from 9.15am to catch Day Two of the HSBC London Sevens from Twickenham.