KEY POINTS:
Top seeds New Zealand and Fiji were barely made to sweat but two other established sevens nations were surprisingly knocked out of quarter-final contention on the first day of the International Rugby Board tournament here yesterday.
The impressive New Zealanders are looking to make it three tournament titles from three in the current series. They overwhelmed Canada 43-0 and were far too organised and too strong for Papua New Guinea, winning that match 41-0 in hot, still conditions at Westpac Stadium to establish a place in tomorrow's quarter-finals.
New Zealand playmaker Nigel Hunt scored with his first touch of the ball in the second minute of the opening match against Canada despite doubts that injury could curb his performance. When captain DJ Forbes scored his 20th try for the national sevens side with just three minutes on the clock, it was clear that a rout was on the cards. The clinical seven-try demolition job vindicated the homeside's status as favourites.
The New Zealanders were slower to hit their stride against Papua New Guinea, but still finished their second match with a seven-try margin. The power and control of the forwards blended with the pace out wide.
The 19-0 half-time lead belied the early resistance of the Papua New Guinean Tuks Tuks, who even managed to threaten the Kiwi line in the first few minutes.
But Gordon Tietjens' men found their rhythm in the second period and shut the game out efficiently, breaking the defensive line neatly for some long-range tries. By the end of the second match, everyone in the New Zealand squad had been involved in the field, in readiness for the bruising encounters still to come.
The New Zealander's final pool game was to be played later last night against defending Wellington champions Samoa, who were also victorious twice in pool A - 24-0 over Papua New Guinea and 31-10 against Canada.
The Fijians cruised past Wales 40-7 in a low gear but were made to work a touch harder in beating the Cook Islands 31-14.
Earlier, the Cooks earned one of the biggest roars of the day from the Wellington crowd by toppling England 21-17. The English went on to suffer a debilitating second loss in pool B, with the lighter, speedier Welsh drawing further cheers, notching up a 15-5 victory that eliminated England from the competition.
Another powerful sevens nation to suffer twin defeats were Argentina, who were stunned 19-7 by the United States and pipped 19-17 by Tonga.
Argentina and England are fourth and fifth on the IRB series standings so are set to lose considerable ground on the leaders this weekend.
With Argentina having no chance, Tonga, Scotland and the US were locked in a three-way tussle to fill the two quarter-final berths from pool D. Scotland earlier thrashed Tonga 26-0 but could only draw 7-7 with the US.
The speedy South Africa had secured one playoff spot from pool C after beating Australia 24-14 and France 29-7.
Australia set themselves up as possible second-place getters by reversing their form in a 19-0 win over Kenya, who had earlier beaten France by the same scoreline.
New Zealand sharp try-scoring form delighted the typically loud, colourful crowd in the two early impressive seven-try performances.
Captain DJ Forbes and playmaker Tomasi Cama were the early crowd favourites for their efforts against Canada. The other tries from that match went to Tafai Ioasa, Steven Yates and Nigel Hunt. The Canadians barely had a sniff against a big, powerful New Zealand side who tackled with aggression and dominated possession.
Although the hosts never got the same flow against Papua New Guinea, giant winger Victor Vito shrugged off three tacklers in an outrageous 60m burst to open the scoring.
Israel Dagg and Zar Lawrence crossed before the break while Yates, Cama and Rene Ranger scored in the second spell before young Hawkes Bay flyer Dagg nabbed his second.
New Zealand were the only team not to concede a point through the first two rounds.
- NZPA
