(IRB/Zoomfiji photo)

No Cup quarterfinals for the USA as the results didn't go their way on day one of the NZI Wellington Sevens in New Zealand.

The US squad finished the day 1-2 and took third place in Pool C to advance to the Bowl quarterfinals.

It was a rough opening for the US as England outplayed them for a 31-7 victory in their first match of the tournament.

The Americans couldn’t stop Ben Gollings, who tallied 11 points with a try and three conversions.

The good news was that football convert Leonard Peters got his first try since switching to Sevens. Nese Malifa converted to round out the team’s scoring.

Next up was the USA’s nemesis Kenya and again the Africans came away with the spoils, this time a 24-7 win.

Mile Pulu scored America’s sole five-pointer and again Malifa converted.

Lavin Asego did most of the damage for the Kenyans scoring a pair of tries and converting two of his team’s four scores.

Finally, the US faced Tonga late in the day and at last there was some joy with the American side posting a 15-7 win.

Unconverted tries by Matt Hawkins, Nese Malifa and Zach Test saw the USA score its first win of the tournament.

As a result of the three games, the USA will square off against France in Saturday’s Bowl quarterfinals.