The United States Eagles rounded out the opening day of action at the Rugby World Cup Sevens with an impressive performance to defeat Wales 35-0 in the men's Round of 16 at AT&T Park in San Francsico.
Eagles superstar Perry Baker, who had written in his exclusive tournament preview for ESPN that he believed the hosts could win the trophy and that "the sky is the limit for rugby in America", scored two tries while Martin Iosefo, Danny Barrett and Carlin Isles also touched down in the final game of the day.
The Eagles next play England in the Championship Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
The men's quarterfinals lineup is completed by defending champions New Zealand, reigning HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series champions South Africa, Olympic champions Fiji, Scotland, Argentina and France, for whom Tavite Turaganibuli Veredamu scored two tries as they recorded the shock result of the Round of 16 by defeating Australia 22-17.
France next play New Zealand, who opened their campaign with an easy 29-5 victory against Russia.
South Africa also impressed in defeating Ireland 45-7, with Siviwe Soyizwapi scoring four tries and Justin Geduld bagging a brace. They will next play Scotland, who completed a remarkable comeback to defeat Kenya 31-26 having trailed 26-0.
Fiji will play Argentina in the other quarterfinal, the Olympic champions having defeated Japan 35-10 in their Round of 16 fixture. Japan posted the first try of the game, but Fiji hit back with scores from Semi Kunatani, Jose Seru, Jerry Tuwai, Josua Tuisova, Semi Radradra and Jasa Veremalua as the fixture turned into a rout.
The women's championship semifinals on day two will see defending champions New Zealand play United States, with Australia against France on the other side of the draw.
Spain defeated Fiji 19-12 in the opening match of the tournament to set up a Championship quarterfinal with Australia, the Olympic and HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens series champions getting their campaign up and running against debutantes Papua New Guinea.
Spain shocked Australia in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens quarterfinals in Moscow, where the Aussies were the defending champions, but there was to be no repeat of that upset with Evania Pelite scoring a hat-trick in a comfortable 34-0 victory.
New Zealand barely engaged second gear in defeating Rugby World Cup Sevens debutantes Mexico 57-0 in the Round of 16 before powering past Ireland in the Championship quarterfinals. Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Goss posted the first hat-trick of the tournament against Mexico, while Michaela Blyde bagged three against Ireland to end the day on top of the try charts with five.
Ireland had earlier shocked England, seeded one place above them in eighth, with Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe's second try proving the difference as her side won 19-14. That was the only match to go against the seedings in the round of 16 with 2013 runners-up Canada, hosts USA, Russia, and France all keeping themselves in the race.
France then edged Canada 24-19 in a see-saw affair that had seemed destined for extra-time before Coralie Bertrand, the rookie of the year on the 2018 World Sevens Series, scored to secure Les Bleus a maiden RWC Sevens semifinal berth.
The United States completed the semifinal lineup, but they had to overcome a willing fightback from Russia in doing so.
Naya Tapper scored two first-half tries as the hosts claimed a 21-5 halftime lead, but Russia battled back to get within a score before Ilona Maher and Cheta Emba posted tries to ensure their semifinal showdown against New Zealand.
Results
Men's tournament
Pre-Round of 16: Kenya 19-7 Tonga, Canada 29-21 Papua New Guinea, France 50-0 Jamaica, Wales 33-12 Zimbabwe, Samoa 45-7 Uganda, Russia 21-7 Hong Kong, Japan 33-7 Uruguay, Ireland 17-12 Chile
Round of 16: Scotland 31-26 Kenya, Argentina 28-0 Canada, Australia 17-22 France, England 19-15 Samoa, New Zealand 29-5 Russia, Fiji 35-10 Japan, South Africa 45-7 Ireland, USA 35-0 Wales.
Women's tournament
Round of 16: Fiji 12-19 Spain, France 33-7 Japan, Russia 24-14 South Africa, Canada 43-19 Brazil, Australia 34-5 Papua New Guinea, New Zealand 57-0 Mexico, England 14-19 Ireland, USA 38-7 China.
Challenge quarterfinals: England 59-0 Mexico, Fiji 43-0 Papua New Guinea, Japan 19-14 Brazil, China 29-5 South Africa.
Championship quarterfinals: Ireland 0-45 New Zealand, Spain 0-34 Australia, France 24-19 Canada, USA 33-17 Russia.