A second-half blitz has guided Australia to an impressive 31-14 win against Tonga in their opening match of the Gold Coast international rugby sevens tournament.
Jesse Parahi scored two tries in as many minutes as Australia ran in four second-half tries to defeat the Tongans.
Pama Fou scored Australia’s opening try of the tournament when he stepped past a couple of defenders to cruise over just two minutes into the clash.
But Tonga struck back with a breakaway try by Viliame Iongi to ensure the scores were level at 7-all going into the break.
Parahi’s two tries sparked the second-half onslaught with Sean McMahon adding another to open up a 26-7 advantage.
Iongi scored once more for Tonga but Australia captain Ed Jenkins had the last say, scoring in the corner after the final siren to complete a good first performance.
The victory gives Australia a share of top spot in Pool B after the first round of matches, with defending Gold Coast sevens champions Fiji also on three points after also recording a 31-14 win against Scotland.
Australia’s next match is against the Scots at 4.20pm AEST, with Fiji taking on Tonga just beforehand.
In the other matches, New Zealand and South Africa both made winning starts in Pool A, with the Kiwis overcoming a dogged United States team 19-7 while South Africa made easy work of Canada, Cornal Hendricks scoring a hat-trick in the 38-0 rout.
Samoa have the early edge in Pool C after beating Spain 31-10 while main rivals England were held to a surprising 14-all draw by Kenya in the opening match of the tournament.
Pool D looks a tight contest after Wales and France both claimed narrow opening wins over Portugal and Argentina respectively.