Vilimoni Koroi in action for the All Blacks Sevens at the World Sevens Series tournament in Cape Town overnight. Photo / Getty Images.
Vilimoni Koroi in action for the All Blacks Sevens at the World Sevens Series tournament in Cape Town overnight. Photo / Getty Images.
Despite a worrying pool play hiccup against the United States, New Zealand are through to the quarter-finals of the rugby sevens world series tournament in Cape Town.
The All Blacks Sevens will meet England in the knock-out phase, but the pressure was on after the Kiwis lost their opening match22-0 to the US.
They bounced back to trounce Spain 50-0 in their second match, running in eight tries, including braces to Tim Mikkelson and Sam Dickson, then went on to beat Australia 35-12.
A loss to Australia would have resulted in the Kiwis missing out on the top eight for the first time 20 years, but a dominant first half meant that was never really likely.
Vilimoni Koroi's opening try was supplemented by a double from Dylan Collier for a 21-0 half-time lead, although Australia hit back early in the second spell through Simon Kennewell and Lewis Holland.
However, closing tries to Koroi and Sione Molia sealed the match comfortably for New Zealand.
Sam Dickson scores against Spain. Photo / Getty Images.
New Zealand coach Clark Laidlaw said it had been pleasing to see his team recover after their opening loss.
"We were pretty poor against the USA but we're really happy about the way we bounced back," he said.
"You can't win the tournament on day one but you can definitely lose it."
Fiji's 22-14 loss to Canada has earned them a quarter-final against defending champions South Africa, while the US meet France, and Canada will play Argentina.
The All Blacks Sevens made an encouraging start to the 10-leg circuit last week in Dubai, beaten 24-12 by South Africa in the final.
