Australia have made Olympic champions Fiji work hard for a 26-12 pool victory during the first day of the Wellington Sevens.

In a tight contest, Australia led 12-5 at halftime through tries to Alex Gibbon and Henry Hutchison before the power of the Fijians came to the fore.

A Fijian team missing several of their Rio heroes pulled away late after tries to Joeli Lutumailagi, Alivereti Veitokani and captain Osea Kolinisau.

Kolinisau scored off brilliantly worked move.

In the same pool, series leaders South Africa crushed Japan 33-0.

Sir Gordon Tietjens has made a humbling return to the Wellington Sevens in his new role as Samoan coach.

The team he used to coach, New Zealand, crushed the Samoans 33-7 in the opening round of a tournament at which he has tasted phenomenal success.

The All Blacks sevens completely dominated possession to lead 21-0 at halftime and pour cold water on Tietjens’ much-anticipated first game in charge after 22 glittering years as New Zealand mentor.

Co-coaches Scott Waldrom and Tomasi Cama had the home side firing, playing a game based on width and skill while denying their opponents time on the ball.

Captain Scott Curry scored the first try and had a second before the break while the other tries went to Sherwin Stowers, Tim Mikkelson and DJ Forbes.

Tietjens praised New Zealand, recalling how they lift for every edition of the Wellington event, which they have won nine times.

“Samoa, we’ve got some firepower there but you can’t win without the ball. We’ve got to learn from that,” Tietjens said.

Another tournament heavyweight, England, thrashed Papua New Guinea 40-0 while pool rivals Argentina pipped Kenya 17-12.

Wales opened the tournament with a 33-0 romp against Russia before a minor upset, when Canada beat Scotland 28-19.

France, opened with a 21-21 draw against the United States.