The Fiji Airways Men's National side got into their groove after the mid-point break of their opening match against a spirited Kenya side, a brilliant 100 metre team try finished in style by George Bose kick-starting a through-the-gears second half that took the score from 12-7 to 31-12.
For the second weekend in a row, a sapping tournament opener between leaders South Africa and bottom-of-the-standings Great Britain – with deluxe injury replacement Graham straight into the try-scoring action – went to golden point.
In Valladolid, the result went the Blitzboks’ way.
This time, however, men’s rookie-of-the-year nominee Finley Lloyd-Gilmour raced clear to claim a famous 19-14 win for Great Britain.
But Great Britain were unable to double down on their opening win, as Fiji wore them down to claim a 26-12 win even though they copped a yellow card, their second of the opening day.
Fiji will next play South Africa at 9.06 tonight in their last pool game.
Two first-half tries for Shilton van Wyk and two in the second for Quewin Nortje were more than enough for South Africa to right their quarter-final challenge after their shock opening defeat with a no-fuss 26-5 victory over Kenya.
The men's Cup quarter-finals are scheduled to begin at 3.28am tommorow, the semi finals are at 11.14am Sunday with the finals at 3.41am on Monday.
In other games, the USA beat Spain 24-19, Australia thrashed Uruguay 43-12, New Zealand defeated hosts France 26-21, Argentina thrashed Germany 35-19.
