Mar del Plata, Argentina - Tournament favorites Fiji and New Zealand cruised to easy wins on Friday in the first round of the Argentina Sevens rugby competition.
Fiji dominated Ireland en route to a lopsided 41-5 win, while New Zealand recovered from an early first-half deficit to easily down Spain 26-7.
Fiji nearly shut out the Irish squad before Ireland's James Ferris scored in the match's closing minutes, taking in an errant pass from a Fijian player near the line to notch the team's only points.
Meanwhile, New Zealand bounced back from a 7-0 deficit to Spain, regaining its footing on solid attacking play. New Zealand opened the match without star Jonah Lomu, who came on early in the second half.
Wales struggled in its championship opener, tying 19-19 with Portugal while England's Paul Sampson, Josh Lewsey and Rob Thirby all scored tries to help the English squad overcome a sluggish start before defeating Chile 21-7.
Two tries and four conversions by Felip Contepomi helped host Argentina rout Russia 45-7 and Western Samoa put up the most points by any team in the first round, beating the United States 49-19.
In other action, Korea downed Kenya 33-17, Japan upended Zimbabwe 17-12, Australia routed Hong Kong 29-5 and Canada beat the Cook Islands 24-5.
New Zealand, winners of last year's world sevens circuit, and Fiji are heavily favored to meet in the three-day tournament's final on Sunday. Expected to challenge them are seeded teams New Zealand, Australia, England, France, South Korea, South Africa, Samoa, and Argentina.
A total of 24 teams are competing in the three-day tournament being held in the Alantic resort city of Mar del Plata, 395km south of Buenos Aires. - Sapa-AP