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Nick Jordan, in Las Vegas thanks to Air Pacific, the world's friendliest airline, and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

It was one of the longest day in IRB Sevens history and it ended well for the joint leaders of the HSBC Sevens World Series who are on course to meet again in the Cup Final in Las Vegas.

The Cup quarter finals were played on Day One for the first time ever to allow the first live broadcasting of the event on network television across the USA, on NBC, and, despite a few tired bodies, the change appears to have been successful.

However, England and New Zealand will have to recover quickly and overcome the challenge of South Africa and Fiji, respectively, to continue their battle at the top of the table. The latter two teams improved remarkably from Wellington and progressed to the last four in thrillers late on Day One at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Fiji held on to beat Samoa 17-12 after leading 12-0 at halftime with coach Iliesa Tanivula saying his side were "desperate" to reverse the result of last week.

"To pull it off today against a very physical side was great for the boys and it was good to see them enjoy the victory," said Tanivula. "The guys prepared well mentally and physically after a very tough pool as Canada, Scotland and Australia pushed us.

"We needed the win and tomorrow we have hopefully two games. New Zealand will be tough, as always, and we need to raise up to their level."

The Kiwis ran in seven tries to rout Argentina 47-7 in their quarter-final after earlier victories over Uruguay, Kenya and Wales. Tim Mikkelson and Toby Arnold stood out during the day, with the experience of Tomasi Cama and replacement skipper Lote Raikabula proving crucial at times.

"We tried to balance the workload today and everyone got game time which was good," said coach Gordon Tietjens, who had been worried about the prospect of injuries with the nprecedented schedule. "Some of the young guys like Rory Grice and Scott Curry started today so to be able to do that was good."

Tietjens felt South Africa were looking good with the Blitz Bokke capitalising on the return of Cecil Afrika (after his broken jaw) to make their first semi-final of the season. The star playmaker scored the try to clinch a 19-14 win over Australia in the last game of the night and said it was great to be back.

"It is very nice to be here with the guys as I really missed it a lot last week!"

Afrika believes the Bokke can get better ahead of their semi-final against England tomorrow.

"We were pleased with the win but not that happy with our performance," he said. "Nothing specific but we feel we can improve in our defence. However, we played four tough games and the guys stuck in and worked really hard today which is pleasing."

England struggled at times in thier quarter-final against Kenya, especially in the scrums, but two tries each to the powerful James Rodwell and the nippy Mat Turner saw the top seeds home 28-14.

"We played it right, resting players when we needed to and still got the results," said captain Ben Gollings. "Kenya has massive support and are a good team to play against so it was a good win for us. We'd love to get to four finals in a row but first it's doing a job in the semi-final so bring on tomorrow."

Gollings clicked over 2500 career points, nearly twice as many as nearest rival Waisale Serevi, with the first try of the day. "I'm pretty happy to raise that milestone and as long as we keep winning I don't really mind about much else!"

The Kenyan fans provided outstanding support for their heroes, filling an entire block of the stadium (approximately 1500 people) for the England clash.

The total attendance was estimated at 25,000, significantly up from last year, with a carnival atmosphere evident in the brilliant desert sunshine.

HOSTS BRING JOY TO CHEERING LOCALS

Those fans also cheered the USA to a 24-7 win over Japan to set up a Bowl quarter-final against arch rivals Canada, in a local derby that whets the appetite of coach Al Caravelli.

"They're our biggest rival and they are always a really tough team," said Caravelli. "It makes for a classic every time. Our guys will need to back themselves a little more, because when they do they get results."

The hosts will tomorrow have to do without Mark Bokhoven, Shalom Suniula and Nu'u Punimata who were all ruled out in a dreadful injury run.

"We have an ACL, a torn MCL and a high ankle sprain and haven't had this much bad luck since Dubai two years ago," rued Caravelli. "It's a fluke as they are very fit and strong but that's what happens sometimes."

The USA had Samoa at 12-14 at one stage, and Kenya's 19-12 win over Wales was somewhat unexpected, but overall there were few surprises in pool play. Collins Injera became the 17th player to 100 IRB Sevens tries in the Wales match and finished with seven for the day.

Cup semi finals:

England v South Africa

Fiji v New Zealand

Plate semi finals

Kenya v Australia

Samoa v Argentina

Bowl quarter finals:

France v Uruguay

USA v Canada

Scotland v Japan

Wales v Guyana

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