World record crowd for Rugby Sevens witnesses thrilling opening day in London

Dan Norton scored six tries on day one of the Marriott London Sevens to move to 48 for the season

– World record Sevens crowd of 71,898 on day one in London
– Cup quarters: ENG-SA, NZ-ARG, KEN-FJI, AUS-USA
– Portugal lead way in core team qualifier pools

HSBC Sevens World Series champions New Zealand were the only side to win all three of their matches in front of a record crowd on day one of the 2013 Marriott London Sevens.

Playing in front of a new world record one-day crowd for Rugby Sevens of 71,898 at Twickenham, hosts England responded to the carnival atmosphere by beating Fiji and Samoa in their first two matches but lost to Argentina in the final match of the day.

England now face South Africa in the Cup quarter finals on day two, while New Zealand will play the Argentines. Kenya will line up against Fiji, while Australia will play the USA.

LONDON TOP 12 RESULTS & FIXTURES >> HERE
FULL ROUND-UP & REACTION >> HERE

2013/14 Series core team qualifying

In the battle to win core team status for the 2013/14 Series, Portugal were the only team to score three wins in pool play. As a result the Portuguese are seeded top in the knock-out phase of that competition and face Georgia in their must-win quarter-final match early on day two. Iberian neighbours Spain face Hong Kong, Zimbabwe play Russia and Scotland will play Tonga. The eight teams are competing for three core team places next season.

CORE TEAM QUALIFIER RESULTS & FIXTURES >> HERE