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A series of pulsating upsets have dominated proceedings on an enthralling day of sevens at the pool stages of IRB Sevens World Series in Wellington. In a day that illustrates the beauty and global strength of the sport, Argentina was the only side to go through the day unbeaten.

Hosts New Zealand and Fiji suffered surprise losses early on against Wales and USA. The Kiwis lack of discipline let them down in their opening fixture with Tomasi Cama sent off for punching and DJ Forbes sent to the bin in the first half.

It allowed the Welsh to race out to a 28-5 lead thanks to tries from Ruodri McAtee, Aled Brew, Taliesen Selley and Rhys Webb.

Although New Zealand fought back through Viliame Waqaseduadua and Forbes they were unable to overhaul the Welsh.

The ever improving USA Eagles shocked Fiji, perhaps feeling the effects of a new coach and a young inexperienced team. Eagles speedster Justin Boyd made the decisive blow scoring at the death to win 15-10.

Series leaders South Africa might have thought they would survive the day one assault unscathed but were eventually seen off by a rampant Kenya. Paul Treu's side hardly put a foot wrong dismantling both Scotland 24-0 and then a dangerous Tongan side 22-5 earlier on before building a lead against Kenya only to be pipped at the end.

Similarly England had cruised through in their opening games, first coming from behind twice to overpower France 26-10 and then seeing off Canada 34-7, skipper Ollie Phillips and Ben Gollings the stand out performers along with new speedster Daniel Norton. But they came unstuck against the highly charged Pumas of Argentina in a gritty 5-12 defeat.

Although the Pumas went unbeaten they could only muster a 17-17 draw with a brave Canadian outfit whose defence held firm against an Argentine barrage. That wasn’t their only draw of the day though as the North Americans also held firm against the French finishing 12 apiece.

In a perfect finale opening day finale the Kiwis took on their trans-Tasman friends Australia. A win for Australia would see them top the group and a straight forward advancement into the quarter finals. But New Zealand are the kings of sevens for a reason and showed their class edging out their rivals 26-19. To underline the competitive nature of the day, the Aussies missed out on cup qualification altogether due to points difference not helped by the fact the Welsh had done enough against the island of Niue winning 34-10.

The highly fancied Samoa had a poor day struggling against lowly minnows Cook Islands, winning ugly 12-5, and then losing their crucial fixture against Fiji. They did have some joy against the Eagles pulling away 26-17 despite a brace from the highly consistent USA captain, Chris Wyles.

On a rollercoaster day of shocks and tightly fought contests points difference became the all important factor with Fiji, South Africa, Argentina, England, Wales, USA and Kenya all doing enough to making it through to the Cup’s last eight. 

Cup quarter-finals:
Kenya v Australia
New Zealand v South Africa
Argentina v USA
Fiji v England

Day One results:

Match 1: England 26 France 10
Match 2: Argentina 17 Canada 17
Match 3: Fiji 10 United States 15
Match 4: Samoa 12 Cook Islands 5
Match 5: South Africa 24 Scotland 0
Match 6: Kenya 21 Tonga 14
Match 7: New Zealand 17 Wales 28
Match 8: Australia 22 Niue 17
Match 9: England 34 Canada 7
Match 10: Argentina 33 France 21
Match 11: Fiji 55 Cook Islands 0
Match 12: Samoa 26 United States 17
Match 13: South Africa 22 Tonga 5
Match 14: Kenya 14 Scotland 19
Match 15: New Zealand 43 Niue 7
Match 16: Australia 24 Wales 15
Match 17: France 12 Canada 12
Match 18: United States 41 Cook Islands 0
Match 19: Scotland 15 Tonga 21
Match 20: Wales 34 Niue 10
Match 21: England 5 Argentina 13
Match 22: Fiji 19 Samoa 5
Match 23: South Africa 17 Kenya 22
Match 24: New Zealand 26 Australia 19