Great Britain produce spirited comeback to reach Tokyo 2020 Rugby Sevens semis

The Rugby Sevens tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games produced high drama on the second day of action, where the four semifinalists were decided.

Rio 2016 silver medallists Great Britain produced one of the comebacks of the tournament beating the United States 26-21 in their quarterfinal clash to keep their title hopes alive.

Great Britain's hopes of another shot at silverware at the Olympic Games were fading fast with each unanswered try by the United States. The Americans had their tails up with three first-half tries – a brace for Perry Baker and one for Danny Barrett – going into the break.

To add to the pressure, Great Britain lost their captain Tom Mitchell to injury within the first five minutes of the match.

The tenacious Brits regathered and bounced back with aplomb, with Ollie Lindsay-Hague crossing the whitewash on the half-time whistle.

Team GB upped the ante in the second half with Ben Harris, Alex Davis and Dan Norton, each scoring a five-pointer while their defences also held, keeping the U.S. scoreless.

Back against the wall; fire in the heart

Great Britain's Robbie Fergusson said their try shortly before half-time gave them the shot in the arm they needed to kick on.

"Pretty unreal when you're down like that, we could have been down and out at half-time, but the score before half-time and resilience in the second half is what we're all about," Fergusson said.

"We spoke a lot as a group about what this means to us, what boys are doing after this, what everyone is about, so we know there is the collective will and desire to do well here. When our backs are against the wall, we seem to be at our best."

Great Britain will face top seed New Zealand, who beat Canada 21-10, in their quarterfinal encounter.

Vamos Los Pumas

Rio 2016 bronze medallists South Africa were not as lucky coming up against spirited underdogs Argentina.

The South Americans played with a man short – due to an early red card – for the majority of the match to claim a 19-14 victory and book their place in the Olympic rugby sevens semifinals.

The Blitzboks laid down the gauntlet a minute into the match, with Selvyn Davids scoring a converted try. The South Africans were then given a numerical advantage when Gaston Revol was shown a red card for an illegal tackle on Davids.

The loss of Revol seemed to strengthen Argentina's resolve, and they soon found themselves ahead by seven points courtesy of a brace of converted tries to Marcos Moneta.

Santiago Alvarez extended their lead with an unconverted try late in the second half, leaving the South Africans a mountain to climb. A penalty try against Argentina with seconds before time served as little consolation to South Africa.

Argentina will face defending Olympic champions Fiji, who were rampant in their quarterfinal, steamrolling past Australia with a 19-0 victory.