Perfect day for New Zealand, Fiji and England in Hamilton

The All Blacks Sevens, defending champions Fiji and England are the only teams with a perfect record after day one of the New Zealand Sevens at FMG Stadium in Hamilton.

France and Canada, though, are also unbeaten in Pool C after playing out a 12-12 draw in their second match, having already seen off the challenge of Spain and Ireland respectively.

England are already assured of top spot in Pool B following a tense 21-19 victory over Dubai champions South Africa, as even if England lose and the Blitzboks win to both finish on seven points the head-to-head rule will place James Rodwell’s side top.

The pool stage concludes on Sunday after which the four teams topping their respective pools will progress straight to the Cup semi-finals in a new competition format where only the teams that top their pools will advance to the semi-finals.

The other teams will go to play-offs to determine the rankings from fifth to 16th.

The action gets underway at 11:07 local time (GMT+13) with Canada’s Pool C encounter with Spain.

Hamilton is the third stop on the 2020 men’s series following tournaments in Dubai and Cape Town in December. It’s one of ten men’s tournaments on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and marks the start of an Olympic year as rugby sevens returns to the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer following its successful introduction at Rio 2016.

Day One results

Ireland 21-26 Canada
France 21-17 Spain
Kenya 19-24 England
South Africa 31-5 Japan
Argentina 7-38 Australia
Fiji 19-12 Samoa
Scotland 7-24 USA
New Zealand 47-0 Wales
Ireland 28-17 Spain
France 12-12 Canada
Kenya 12-12 Japan
South Africa 19-21 England
Argentina 40-0 Samoa
Fiji 19-12 Australia
Scotland 24-19 Wales
New Zealand 26-5 USA

With thanks to World Rugby