Australia fail to make Cup sevens quarters

Australia's struggles in the men's world rugby sevens series have continued as they were eliminated from the cup competition in Vancouver at the pool stage.

The Aussies lost two of their three pool matches on Saturday to finish third in their section and miss out on the cup quarter-finals - they will be battling for the challenge trophy with ninth-placed points the best they can achieve in Canada.

Australia edged out Spain 17-14 with tries from Nicholas Malouf and Simon Kennewell (two) to open their campaign.

However, a surprise 21-17 loss to France in their second match forced an unlikely sudden-death match against New Zealand for top spot after the Kiwis were stunned by Spain.

Australia were no match for their Trans Tasman rivals and slumped to a 36-12 defeat, after they trailed 19-0 at the break.

Dylan Pietsch and John Porch crossed for second-half tries to give the scoreboard some respectability but Australia were never in the hunt.

The Aussies will face Kenya in the challenge trophy quarters on Monday at 0352 AEDT.

Australia are sixth on 57 points after the opening five rounds of the 10-round series.