Munster reach last eight but Fijian champs shine brightest in Thomond
Rugby ball ready to be kicked
Defending champions Daveta from Fiji lit up Thomond Park on day one of the Limerick World Club 7s, but impressive Connacht and Munster showings means there is still plenty of home interest in today's knockout stages.
But after qualifying as eighth seeds Munster face the Fijians in the next round at 12.55pm.
Without doubt Daveta were the top side on display and two tries for Jone Vota and Saki Gavidi easily saw them past Leinster. They accumulated another 36 points in round two, while in the battle for top spot, tries for Apenisa Cakaubalaki, Vota and Emori Waqa helped them to a strong 17-5 win over New York.
Of all the home sides Connacht were the most impressive, and flying winger Fionn Carr revelled in the open spaces of the sevens game. Carr bagged a hat-trick in Connacht's 36-10 win over a lacklustre Ulster, crossed for another in their narrow 19-10 defeat to the impressive Buenos Aires, and his fifth try of the day and two from Shane Leyden saw Connacht beat Golden Lions 21-19 and seal second place in Pool 3.
Hosts Munster took some time to warm up the crowd, but after trailing 14-0 in their opening game against Canadian Maples, tries from Diarmuid McCarthy, Tomas Quinlan and Steve McMahon gave them something to cheer, despite their 19-17 defeat.
Dotted
McCarthy crossed in Munster's second game to give them an early lead against Samurai, while Ollie Lyons and Cian Aherne also dotted down in an exciting 19-19 draw.
And a brace of tries for both Alan Bennie and McMahon gave Munster their first win of the day, but crucially their 28-15 win against San Francisco clinched a place in the last eight for Colm McMahon's side.
A mostly disappointing day was rescued at the death for Hugh Hogan's Leinster as Adam Leavy's try after the buzzer gave the eastern province their first win.
They still needed a conversion from Mark Roche to clinch victory, but the Lansdowne back made no mistake to clinch a 19-17 win over San Francisco.
A couple of tries from Brian Mollen had laid the foundations for the win for Leinster, but things didn't go as well for them earlier in the day. First up they tasted a 45-7 defeat to Daveta, and in round two a penalty-try and another from Stephen Murphy was not enough to avoid a 31-14 defeat to New York.
Leinster and Ulster will play off against San Francisco and Stade Francais in the Shield competition, while the other eight teams will fight it out for the Limerick World Club 7s cup from 11am.
