Australia crushed Scotland 29-5 to complete a surprisingly dominant opening day at the world series sevens rugby tournament in Wellington.
The young side coached by Michael O’Connor eased past Portugal 24-5 and stunned Fiji 21-12 to top pool D on Friday and reverse their previous form in the International Rugby Board series.
They were knocked out in the Cup quarter-finals of the opening tournament on the Gold Coast and failed to advance beyond pool play at Dubai and Port Elizabeth.
The previously unbeaten Scots had no answer to Australia’s pressure game in defence which was also effective against Fiji.
The Australians attacked the breakdowns with vigour to dominate possession and score five tries to one.
As with their first two games, their tries were shared around. Con Foley, Lewis Holland and Allan Fa’alava’au put them 17-0 clear at halftime before Jordan Tuapau and Shannon Walker completed the second-half scoring. James Fleming crossed for a consolation for Scotland.
Both teams upset Fiji, who failed to qualify for the Cup quarter-finals for the first time in the series’ history.
Australia will face the runners-up from pool A, which could potentially be New Zealand, assuming the tournament hosts win their final game against the United States and unbeaten England beat Spain.
England toppled the series-leading New Zealanders in the opening round of matches.