WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) Fiji, England, Australia and defending champion New Zealand topped their pools after the first day of the Wellington rugby sevens tournament on Saturday, further establishing the powers of the sport ahead of its Olympics debut in Rio de Janiero.
New Zealand faced the hardest task to finish atop Pool A, having to beat South Africa which was runner up in the Sevens World Series in the last three years. Fiji, South Africa, New Zealand and England have qualified for the Olympics tournament after filling the top-four placings in last year's World Series.
Joe Weber scored a try after the final hooter to give New Zealand a 19-14 win over South Africa in the final match of the day which left it unbeaten.
New Zealand plays Kenya, South Africa meets Australia, England faces Argentina and Fiji plays the United States in Sunday's quarterfinals.
