Tokyo Olympics: New Zealand go two from two on opening day of men’s sevens – Stuff.co.nz

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New Zealand's William Warbrick goes in for the try against Argentina in pool play at the Tokyo Olympics.

Korea crushed. Argentina dispatched. It's so far so good for the All Blacks Sevens in their quest for Olympic gold in Tokyo.

Clairk Laidlaw's men opened the Olympic tournament at Tokyo Stadium on Monday with a degree of style, running away from the outmatched Republic of Korea 50-5 in the early session, and then returning to clinically dismantle a dangerous Argentina side 35-14 in the second stanza.

The Argentina effort, after a somewhat shaky start, was a definite step up from the New Zealanders as they put away a side fresh off a 29-19 upset of the Australians to dash to the top of Pool A, with just the Aussies to come to complete the group phase on Tuesday.

Argentina looked well in the race early on after scoring the opening try via Marcos Moneta (on a tackle miss from Regan Ware), and would still have been feeling good about themselves when they went into the halftime break down 14-7 after Ngarohi McGarvey-Black and Sione Molia worked their magic for the Kiwis.

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Tone Ng Shiu looks for the gap against Argentina as New Zealand won both matches to open pool play at the Olympic sevens.

Luciano Gonzalez exposed Molia's defence to put the South Americans back on terms early in the second spell, but from there it was all New Zealand. Joe Webber opened the defence up on halfway after a long period of possession, veteran Tim Mikkelson made it 28-14 when he broke through a weak tackle and William Warbrick sealed the deal when he dashed on to Andrew Knewstubb's perfectly weighted grubber.

Laidlaw will no doubt have something to say about a couple of tackle misses, but would otherwise be happy about an opening day that has set the table nicely for a side desperate to atone for their Olympic failure on debut in 2016.

The Kiwis are desperate to add Olympic gold to their world series, World Cup and Commonwealth Games triumphs. They were beaten by eventual gold medallists Fiji in the quarterfinals in Rio after losing twice in pool play.

Earlier they had little trouble dealing with the inexperienced Koreans who paid the price for being on the wrong end of two yellow cards in the second half.

The New Zealanders ran in eight tries in total, including a penalty try, after leading just 14-5 at halftime as the feisty part-timers marked their first half of Olympic sevens action with a couple of bright moments and a surprise five-pointer.

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Tim Mikkelson breaches the Korea defence in New Zealand's impressive Olympic sevens opener in Tokyo.

But normal service was restored after the break as the Koreans were knocked off their stride when Chang Yong Heung and Park Wanyong were both carded for illegal plays at the ball on defence. That allowed the Kiwis to cut loose with six tries over the run home as they made the most of their numerical advantage.

Knewstubb and Mikkelson crossed for the New Zealanders in the first spell, while Mikkelson, Warbrick (twice), Etene Nanai-Seturo and Ngarohi McGarvey-Black completed the scoring action, along with a penalty try.

Argentina had earlier held off a furious finish to stun the Australians 29-19 and take a major stride towards a spot in the quarterfinals.

The Argentines had raced away to a 24-0 halftime lead on the back of tries to Lucio Cinti, Matias Osadczuk, Moneta and Ignacio Mendy in the opening stanza.

Shuji Kajiyama/AP

Members of Team Fiji hold the ball before the start of their men's rugby sevens match against Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

But the Aussies gave themselves a sniff when they ran in two tries to super-sub Josh Turner and a blockbusting solo effort to Samu Kerevi to close to 24-19 with time still on the clock.

However they could only bat the restart loose, allowing Argentina's Lautaro Bazan Velez to scoop up the ball and race away for the match-clincher after the final hooter.

Australia kept themselves in the quarterfinal hunt with a 42-5 runaway victory over Korea to wrap up the opening day.

Defending gold medallists Fiji had a mixed day in Pool B, pushed to the limit before grinding out a 24-19 comeback victory over hosts Japan (after trailing 19-12 early in the second spell), and then rolling past Canada 30-14 to go 2-0 for opening day.

Much more impressive were group rivals Great Britain who shut out Canada 24-0, and then returned to crush hosts Japan 34-0 to set up their Tuesday pool decider against the Fijians splendidly.

Rio bronze medallists South Africa kicked off pool C with a 33-14 victory over Ireland, while the US won a thriller, 19-14 over Kenya, in the group's other match of the opening session. The Kenyans looked to have snatched victory at the death when Willy Ambaka raced on to a kick-through with just over a minute remaining but a brilliant defensive play by Mata Leuta dislodged the ball and a Madison Hughes try at the death snatched the win for the Americans.