While the US had handled Portugal fairly easily on Friday they certainly had not showed the level of play they would need to go far in this tournament. That was the feeling still near the end of the first half of the USA-Argentina match to start things off on Saturday as the US found themselves down 14-0. Perry Baker was able to score for the US to start to pull them back into it and a Madison Hughes conversion meant the US had momentum going to the break even if they trailed on the scoreboard. The second half reflected that as Maka Unufe, Baker, and Hughes would all score second half tries as the US scored the final 26 points of the match to clinch a spot in the cup quarterfinals for the ninth straight tournament.

The final match of the pool against Australia would be to determine seeds in the cup quarterfinal and was somewhat reminiscent of the Argentina match earlier in the day. Australia would score first but this time the US rallied for tries from Garrett Bender and Madison Hughes. Hughes converted his own try to give the US a 12-7 lead at the break. Baker and Ben Pinkleman would add tries to push the US to a final 22-7 margin and first place in the pool.

Of course the reward for the US winning their group is the team who is unfortunately 2nd place on the tour by one point… South Africa. They ended up second in their group to England. The matchup is tough and the US probably won’t be favored to advance in the cup competition at all but we will at least get another match between the US and one of the big rugby powers with a lot on the line.

The US will take on South Africa at 11:20 PM ET on Saturday in the States. Live stream is available on the World Rugby Website. The US will face the corresponding winner/loser from the New Zealand/Wales match and if they make a final will take one on of Austrlaia, England, Fiji, and Kenya.