Australia’s men have survived an early scare to beat Canada 27-5 and remain undefeated on day two of the Sydney 7s rugby tournament.

The win followed Friday’s brave 26-19 defeat of the USA and puts the hosts on track for a quarter-final appearance on Sunday.

Canada scored first when the ball spilled free from a tackle and was fortuitously soccered ahead for a Justin Douglas try.

But Australia controlled proceedings from then on, playmaker Lewis Holland scoring twice to win back the lead.

Australia resisted Canada for more than three minutes after the halftime hooter, the hosts conceding two penalties as Canada probed the line but couldn’t penetrate.

Following the break, Tim Anstee broke the line and put a huge right foot step on the Canadians’ last line of defence to open up a 17-5 buffer with three minutes to play.

John Porch then benefited from some beautiful footwork from Maurice Longbottom as the Australians took ownership of the game, before veteran James Stannard’s try iced the victory.

Australia next play Scotland on Saturday night, with a win guaranteeing them top spot in the pool.

However a heavy loss could see Australia slip to third courtesy of for-and-against, behind Scotland and USA, and miss a finals spot.