Two tries from teenager Rieko Ioane have helped New Zealand to a 24-5 win over England in their final pool match in the Wellington leg of rugby’s Seven World Series.
The result meant the home side – both the world series and Wellington defending champions – came through Friday’s opening day unbeaten.
They will face Australia in Saturday’s quarter-finals.
Ioane, 17, was one of four New Zealand debutants on show – along with Jack Goodhue, Beaudein Waaka and Dylan Collier – and all four made their mark.
After downing Canada 26-5 and Papua New Guinea 38-7, the All Blacks Sevens faced England to decide the top qualifiers from Pool B.
England made an electric start, reclaiming their kick-off before sending James Rodwell over in the corner.
New Zealand responded immediately, working their way downfield before Joe Webber’s show-and-go drew the defence and created the opening for Ioane to score.
At 5-5, England almost went back in front when Tom Mitchell found open space, but Scott Curry produced a big chase to pull him down.
Curry went from try-saver to try-scorer early in the second half, racing through a hole to touch down under the posts.
Sherwin Stowers dotted down to extend the lead to 17-5 before England suffered a big blow in the final minute, with Richard de Carpenter red-carded for a tip tackle on Waaka.
Ioane added his second try to push out the margin.
Wellington is the fourth of nine rounds in the world series, and New Zealand are third on the table behind leaders South Africa, who have won two tournaments this season.
The Blitzbokke slumped to a shock 22-5 defeat to France in their opening match, but squeezed into the last eight with wins over Japan and the United States.
The US had beaten Japan and France by big margins, so their 26-14 loss to South Africa meant they still topped their pool.
Fiji, second in the standings, came through Pool C unbeaten after they downed Australia 14-5 in the match to determine top spot.
Kenya also completed day one with a 100 per cent record, while Scotland edged out Argentina 21-14 to be the other Pool D team into the quarter-finals.
QUARTER-FINAL MATCH-UPS:
* United States v Scotland
* Fiji v England
* Kenya v South Africa
* New Zealand v Australia
