Day 1 - Kenya thump New Zealand!
The Force are now forgiven, the sun's out and life is simply grand :D
IRB.com
Pool B
Kenya won their first victory against New Zealand in 14 attempts to recover from a dismal start in San Diego and qualify top of Pool B for the last eight in the Cup.
Knowing that only victory against the kiwis was enough to stay in the Cup, the Kenyans started well with tries by captain Humphrey Kayange and Brian Nyikuli. New Zealand, missing several key players but still a force in the game, hit back through Tu Umaga-Marshall to trail 14-7 at the break but two tries by Victor Oduor sparked mass celebrations from the thousands of amassed Kenyan fans present in the generous crowd.
Earlier, World Cup-bound Uruguay caused an early upset by beating the Kenyans 14-12. The Uruguayans scored two tries through Santiago Carracedo and Santiago Gibernau and then defended with their lives to shut the Africans out for much of the match. Matias Arocena slotted both conversions for Los Teros, while only one of Kenya's tries by Lavin Asego and Collins Injera went converted.
But for a couple of mistakes, a much-improved France might well have beaten New Zealand in their opening match. The French held the defending champions to 12-12 at the half and should have stretched their lead before stand-in captain Zar Lawrence inspired New Zealand to raise their level and tries by Tim Mikkelson and Nigel Hunt took them well clear for a 22-12 win.
France then proved how unpredictable they can be, crashing to a 33-0 loss against the Kenyans, who again had Collins Injera and Humphrey Kayange to thank for much of their best endeavour.
Pool A
Series leaders South Africa beat Australia 22-7 in the final match of the day to go unbeaten in San Diego and proceed top of the pool to the Cup quarter finals. Tries by Frankie Horne, Vuyo Zangqa, Philip Snyman and Howard Noble were enough to overturn Australia's early lead through Willie Bishop's coverted score.
Earlier, only a last minute try by Howard Noble denied USA a first ever win against the Boks, although the hosts did follow that opening 15-14 loss with a 17-12 win against Australia, Justin Boyd stretching to score at the death and they also reaffirmed their status as North America's number one with a 26-0 win against rivals Canada to reach the Cup quarter finals.
In one of the matches of the tournament so far, the Boks led the USA 10-0 at the break early in the day but the hosts came storming back to lead through converted tries by Paul Emerick and Kevin Swiryn, before Noble's late dash to the line denied the home team and their expectant crowd.
South Africa also overcame Canada 31-12, Ryno Benjamin grabbing a brace of tries.
Australia beat Canada 35-7, Luke Morahan scoring one of five tries for the Aussies to become the season's leading scorer, but could do nothing to prevent a loss against the hosts. Morahan was again on the score sheet in a highly competitive match, but the Americans finally triumphed in a tight finale.
Cup Quarter finals
South Africa - New Zealand
Fiji - England
Samoa - Argentina
Kenya - USA
