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Four sides have led the way in the HSBC Sevens World Series for 2010-11 and should continue to dominate the third round which starts today in Wellington .

England, New Zealand, Samoa and Fiji made the semis in both Dubai and George and head their respective pools at the Westpac Stadium. But a youthful Australia, a low-key South Africa and the perennial crowd favourites Kenya and the USA Eagles could ruffle some feathers.

Wales, Scotland and Papua New Guinea have all shown improvement since last season while the Cook Islands, Canada and Tonga (who all make their first appearance in 2010-11) will have plenty to prove as do France, the under-achievers of the Sevens circuit.

Former New Zealand Sevens captain Karl Tenana, although expecting top seeds England and the hosts New Zealand to make the final, picked South Africa as the dark horse.

"New Zealand has a well-balanced team with the experience of five guys who won the Commonwealth Games and having Solomon King back adds something to the excitement of the young group of players. They seem quietly confident which is a good sign and as long as they don't take things too seriously, and perhaps even treat the tournament like it's overseas, I think they'll do all right," he said.

"England will be up there but South Africa have flown under the radar, they like playing in Wellington and they have a huge backing so I'd keep an eye on them! "Wellington is a great event, starting with the street parade and all the teams get into it as they are treated like superstars over the whole weekend," added Tenana.

"The crowd really support all the teams which is one of the reasons they love coming here."

England top the seeds in Pool A with matches against Wales, USA and the Cook Islands. New Zealand, last-start winners in George, face Argentina, Scotland and Papua New Guinea.

Reigning Series champions Samoa are in Pool C with Australia, Kenya and Tonga while defending Wellington champions Fiji will take on South Africa, France and Canada in Pool D.

The tournament festivities started in the traditional fashion with thousands lining the street for the parade along Wellington's golden mile, featuring Latin drummers, Scottish bagpipes and Pacific warriors as well as acrobats, dancers and cheerleaders, not forgetting the 16 teams.

The hosts received the loudest cheers, though Fiji, Samoa and Kenya were also well-supported and England have some new-found fans. "I go to the parade every year and the best part about it is you get to high-five all the players and they're sexy, especially England!," said Bing, a first-year Wellington journalism student who spoke to UR7s.

"New Zealand had a few hot players as well so that's all good," added her friend Amy. "We're planning to go to the tournament next year as we couldn't get a ticket this year. Next year I'm going to figure out when the tickets go on sale so we can get in."

The 35,000-capacity venue has sold out every year since 2002 and this year all tickets were snapped up three and a half minutes after going on sale. Morning drizzle is forecast, clearing to a fine afternoon where the first match kicks off at 1pm local time.