HSBC Sevens World Series
England Sevens return to form in Glasgow
ESPN Staff
May 4, 2013
England's Tom Mitchell is tackled by Portugal's Luis Sousa, England v Portugal, Glasgow Sevens, HSBC Sevens World Series, Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow, May 4, 2013
England's Tom Mitchell is tackled by Portugal's Luis Sousa during their clash at the Scotstoun Stadium © Getty Images
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England will make only their second Cup quarter-final appearance of the current HSBC Sevens World Series campaign in Glasgow on Sunday.

Ben Ryan' side, who have struggled to match their title-winning performance at the Wellington Sevens earlier this year, lost 31-5 to Series leaders and title favourites New Zealand in their opener at the Scotstoun Stadium earlier today but bounced back to beat hosts Scotland 29-7 and then thrash Portugal 47-0 to ensure they progressed to the last eight as the runners-up in Pool B.

Three tries in three games took England winger Dan Norton's 2012-13 tally to 40, overtaking Mat Turner's haul of 38 last year. No England player on a list including Ugo Monye and David Strettle has scored more tries in a single season. England's reward is a clash with Fiji who were one of four sides to remain unbeaten on the opening day of what is the penultimate event of the season.

Fiji opened their Pool C account with a 45-0 victory over Spain and followed that with 28-10 win against Argentina. The Fijians edged out Australia 19-17 in their final pool clash with Samisoni Viriviri scoring the crucial try. Argentina will join them in the quarter-finals thanks to their 17-10 victory over Australia and a 40-5 success against Spain with New Zealand awaiting them in the last eight.

Wales topped Pool D after winning all three of their matches, ending day one with a 28-22 win against Russia with Chris Knight scoring two of their four tries. Earlier in the day they had beaten France 22-14 before edging out the USA 26-21 with the latter booking a quarter-final berth with a 48-5 victory over Russia and a 21-14 win against France.

South Africa took out Pool A with a 100% record after impressively beating Samoa 27-0 in their final match with Justin Geduld scoring twice. They narrowly defeated Kenya 17-14 in their first match while Stephan Dippenaar broke Canadian hearts with a last-minute try to give them a 17-14 victory in their other clash having trailed 14-7.

However, they will be joined by Canada after the season's leading points scorer Nathan Hirayama scored a try in the final seconds of their 21-12 victory over Kenya to guarantee their place. Earlier they came from 17-0 down against Samoa to win 19-17 thanks to tries from Jeff Hassler, Sean Duke and captain Nanyak Dala in a fascinating comeback.

Cup quarter finals:
South Africa v USA
Fiji v England
Wales v Canada
New Zealand v Argentina

South Africa's Paul Delport dives over to score a try against Kenya © Getty Images
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