Canada upsets Samoa but still misses out on London Sevens quarter-finals

Canada rebounded from a 12-match losing streak on the HSBC World Series to upset Samoa 24-19 at the London Sevens on Saturday.

But a subsequent 12-12 tie with the U.S. prevented the Canadians from advancing to the elite Cup quarter-finals, adding yet more pain to a season filled with bad breaks and disappointment. It's the third time Canada has missed the Cup quarter-finals on tiebreakers.

Canada will play Brazil in consolation play Sunday.

In the Cup quarter-finals, it's England versus Scotland, South Africa versus Argentina, France versus Fiji and New Zealand versus the United States.

Making the final eight on the 10th and last stop on the circuit was enough to ensure a second successive World Series overall title for Fiji. Jarryd Hayne, a former Australian rugby league star and San Francisco 49er, saw limited action for the Pacific Islanders.

The Canadian men, 13th overall in the season standings, opened the day with a 21-7 loss to No. 2 South Africa before defeating No. 8 Samoa, a team it could well face at an Olympic qualifying repechage tournament next month in Monaco.

Samoa was coming off a Cup win last weekend in Paris where Canada had finished tied for 15th.

It marked Canada's first victory on the circuit since April 10 in Hong Kong. The Canadians went winless in Singapore and Paris.

Conor Trainor scored two tries against Samoa with singles from Justin Douglas and Mike Fuailefau.

Captain John Moonlight scored for Canada against South Africa.

Canada led 7-5 at the half against the U.S. after Trainor's 55th career try, set up by a fine run from Jones and turnover at the breakdown by Moonlight. Perry Baker scored two tries for the U.S., with the second covering almost the length of the field.

Trailing 12-5, Canada tied it on a Matt Mullins try after Baker became isolated at the breakdown. The draw was enough to send the Americans through to the final eight.

South Africa went 3-0-0 in winning Canada's pool. England also won all three matches.

Kenya's Collins Injera made sevens history with his record 231st try on the circuit to surpass Santiago Gomez Cora, now coach of Argentina. The record-breaking try came in a 29-12 loss to France.

In women's play at the separate London Sevens invitational tournament, Canada's Maple Leafs team lost 19-12 to the U.S. in Saturday's final after defeating Britain 28-0 in semifinal action.

On Friday, the Canadian women beat Ireland 17-7, Spain 17-5 and France 26-5.

The tournament is a warmup event before next weekend's Clermont Sevens, the last stop on the 2015-16 HSBC Women's Sevens Series and the final event before the 2016 Rio Olympics.