Sevens: NZ through to quaterfinals in South Africa

Joe Webber in action for the All Blacks Sevens side in Port Elizabeth this morning. Photo / Getty Images

There was a mixture of good and scratchy from the All Blacks Sevens on day one of the South African leg of the HSBC World Series in Port Elizabeth.

With their performances under more scrutiny than usual following two disappointing early exits on the Gold Coast and in Dubai, New Zealand topped Pool D with three wins from three, securing safe passage through to tonight's Cup quarter-final against USA.

They showcased an almost watertight defence, and with Joe Webber's three tries providing most of their offensive spark.

They were not as fluent on attack as they had been on day one in Dubai, but their best effort came in the 24-7 dismantling of Samoa.

They meant business from the get go, with Scott Curry jolting the ball free from the match's first tackle before Webber opened their account with a skilful chip and regather try.

There was the rare sight of a lineout drive try, scored by Sam Dickson. The best try came from DJ Forbes, patiently worked from Forbes to Tim Mikkelson and back to his captain from 60m out. And though New Zealand conceded a soft late try to Siaosi Asafolau, they could be well satisfied with their opener.

Japan provided headaches for much of the second encounter, holding a rejigged New Zealand line-up to 12-0 at halftime with field position and pressure. New Zealand made Japan pay off turnover ball and ran in three second half tries to blow the scoreline out to 29-0. Coach Sir Gordon Tietjens was not especially happy at halftime and told his team as much.

They tightened up their play to subdue England 5-0 in a rare sevens arm-wrestle, in which Gillies Kaka was sinbinned and the highlights were a trysaving tackle by Mikkelson on a flying Tom Mitchell and a superb step and fend by Webber for the game's sole try, his 37th in 14 tournaments, though he also grassed an easy pass when the tryline beckoned.

Former Tasman Makos No 8 Mark Bright turned out for England.

There were several upsets on day one, notably Japan tipping over Samoa 17-14 in Pool D, making for an unhappy, winless day for the Samoans, while Argentina beat Australia 31-21.

New Zealand will face USA at 12.03am early tomorrow after the Americans qualified second in Pool D behind the slick hosts South Africa. The other Cup quarter-finals pit Argentina against Scotland, series leaders Fiji against Australia, and South Africa versus England.

New Zealand in Pool D

New Zealand 24 (Joe Webber 2, Sam Dickson, DJ Forbes tries; Gillies Kaka 2 con) Samoa 7 (Siaosi Asafolau try; Asafolau con) HT: 19-0
New Zealand 29 (Scott Curry, Kurt Baker, Sam Vaka, Sherwin Stowers, Ambrose Curtis tries; Baker con, Webber con) Japan 0 HT: 12-0
New Zealand 5 (Joe Webber try) England 0 HT: 0-0