KEY POINTS:
New Zealand came to life with a 33-5 defeat of Argentina tonight to gather some momentum ahead of tomorrow's knockout phase of the International Rugby Board (IRB) sevens tournament here tomorrow.
After graunching through the gears for wins over Kenya and Tonga on the opening day, Gordon Tietjens'
New Zealand side produced their best as they raced to a 26-0 halftime lead against the disappointing Argentines.
They joined South Africa, Samoa and the brilliant Fiji side as unbeaten teams at a Westpac Stadium in typical party mode heading into the quarterfinals.
In warm, windless conditions it took until their third game but the hosts showed the sort of form that saw them win the second IRB tournament at George in South Africa six weeks ago.
Zar Lawrence, Tomasi Cama and Afeleke Pelenise crossed for tries inside four minutes and newcomer Steven Yates had the fourth before halftime.
The intensity left the game in the second spell, with Pelenise's second try off a Lawrence bust their only remaining breakthrough.
It pleased Tietjens, who was unsettled by slow starts in their 38-0 defeat of Kenya followed by a 19-5 arm wrestle against Tonga.
He said his team were several levels below the standards reached in winning the tournament in South Africa.
"We're nowhere near as fluent as the way we finished in South Africa. We haven't played for a while," he said.
"But the second half against Kenya was pretty good and some parts against Tonga were okay... but I'd like to think we can play with a lot more fluency."
He said the performance against Argentina was their best as they were able to free ball quicker at the breakdown.
"We've just got to be a lot more strong around the rucks," Tietjens said.
"We need quicker and better ball but we're letting them come through the back which is putting us under pressure."
Halfback Nigel Hunt and elegant midfielder Lawrence were New Zealand's most threatening figures today, with Lawrence scoring four of their 14 tries.
He sealed the win over Tonga with just two minutes remaining. Until then the hosts lead by the halftime score of just 7-5.
Edwin Cocker crossed again for New Zealand, winning his personal battle with identical twin brother John in the Tongan side.
It took 5min to break the deadlock against Kenya before Hunt darted over and Lawrence made it 12-0 before halftime.
Three New Zealand substitutes -- Yates, Charles Baxter and Nick Thompson -- all scored tries with their first touches in the second spell.
There was concern over the fitness of New Zealand forward DJ Forbes, who injured his neck against Kenya and was forced to sit out the rest of the day's play.
"Realistically I looked at today's draw and knew it was a tough one. I'd like to have had the draw of some of the other teams," Tietjens said.
Kenya bounced back from their early defeat to upset Argentina and Tonga, setting up a quarterfinal against Samoa.
New Zealand's quarterfinal opponents tomorrow will be England, who lack the star quality of recent years and lost 12-19 to Samoa.
A win over the English will set up a treacherous semifinal against Fiji, who easily looked the classiest team today.
With an imperial William Ryder pulling the strings, Fiji hammered Portugal 42-0, the United States 43-0 and pool runners-up France 47-7 in an awesome display.
The defending champions should be too strong in their quarterfinals for Canada, who upset Australia 26-12, prompting the loudest roars at a soldout venue.
South Africa, who are series co-leaders with New Zealand, beat Canada 24-10 then turned on the gas in style to down Australia 27-7.
- NZPA
