Defending international rugby sevens series champions New Zealand have made a solid, if unspectacular, start to this weekend’s tournament on the Gold Coast by defeating the United States 19-7.

The Kiwis were given a tough battle by the Americans, eventually prevailing by three tries to one in the pool D opener.

Experienced Mark Jackman scored two first half tries for New Zealand to establish a 14-0 lead before former track runner Carlin Isles scored a breakaway try at the start of the second half for the US.

New Zealand instantly replied through debutant Gareth Williams-Spiers, who shrugged off a defender to score the game’s final points.

Another first-gamer, Warwick Lahmert, said the Americans deserved credit for not letting Gordon Tietjens’ men settle into their normal style.

“First game up they came out to play a good game of sevens and they held on to the ball quite a lot in that first half and in the second half stopped us from the attacking rugby we like to play,” Lahmert said.

New Zealand’s next match will be against Canada, who were routed 38-0 by South Africa in their opening fixture.