New Zealand on fire as they begin defence of Gold Coast Sevens
Champions pummel France, Japan and Samoa on day one to set up quarter-final clash with England
New Zealand made a powerful start to the defence of their Gold Coast Sevens title, emerging unbeaten after pool play Saturday on the first day of the tournament which kicks off rugby's qualifying process for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Playing in pool A at the 16-team tournament, top-ranked New Zealand emphatically beat France (36-7), Japan (59-0) and Samoa (28-17) to set up a quarter-final clash Sunday with fourth-ranked England.
South Africa topped pool B, Fiji topped pool C and Argentina finished atop pool D after upsetting England 21-19 in the first match of the competition.
We, like every other team, want to start with a bang. Everyone knows how important this series will be with so much at stake, and that will impact every tournament
Argentina will now play Samoa, South Africa will play hosts Australia and Fiji will play Wales in the other quarter-final games.
New Zealand's only fright on opening day came from Samoa who led 17-14 early in the second half before the Kiwis reclaimed the lead with tries by Tim Mikkelson and Sherwin Stowers.
The All Blacks Sevens, who are the current world champions and have won 12 of 15 seasons since the International Rugby Board launched its Sevens World Series, beat Samoa 40-0 in the quarter-finals of last year's Gold Coast tournament.
They improved their record against France yesterday to 46 wins from 48 matches, and against Japan to 12 wins from 12 meetings.