The All Blacks Sevens have snuck their way into the quarter-finals despite an embarrassing 7-0 defeat to South American minnows Chile at the Silicon Valley Sevens.
The loss was New Zealand's opening pool match of the pre-World Series tournament, staged at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California.
A converted tryto Filipe Brangier came after an interception made by Julio Blanc from deep inside his own half allowed the Chileans to take an unlikely lead in the first half.
Chile were a man down for two minutes after Urroz Francisco was sent to the sin bin shortly after half-time, but the Kiwis could not capitalise.
Hawke's Bay's Mason Emerson came closest to scoring for the New Zealanders, but tough Chilean defence forced a handling error, leaving the largely developmental side scoreless.
Their struggles continued in the second pool game, losing 24-12 to the USA, but they rebounded in their final game of the day, thrashing Tonga 34-0.
Their one-win, two-loss record will be enough to make the quarter-finals despite finishing third in their pool. The two best third-placed finishers join the top two teams from all three pools to form the eight teams making the quarter-finals.
New coach Clark Laidlaw has named a stronger side for next weekend's Oceania Sevens tournament in Fiji, with veterans such as Scott Curry, Tim Mikkelson, and Joe Webber all included after being rested for the Californian tournament.
