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aNgarohi McGarvey-Black and the All Blacks Sevens enjoyed a first-up win in Los Angeles against Chile.
The All Blacks Sevens have picked up where they left off a month ago, cruising to a 26-7 victory over Chile in their Los Angeles tournament opener on Sunday (NZ time).
Coming off their title-win in Sydney, the defending LA champs proved far too classy early on for the South Americans, who are one of four non-core sides on the World Series circuit and appearing in their first tournament since 2021, before having to scrap their way past their spirited opponents.
While the sun poked out, water splashed underfoot after a rainy morning near Hollywood, but it didn’t stop the hot-stepping of the Kiwis, with Roderick Solo streaking away to open the scoring after just 50 seconds, before Leroy Carter bagged a double to get the men in black out to 17-0.
But from there, New Zealand had to work hard for their win. Chile hit back on halftime through a fine try to Manuel Bustamante, and fantastic conversion from Marcelo Torrealba, while the minnows went on to dominate the second stanza and handling errors stunted the flow of their more fancied-rivals.
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Payton Spencer, 18, caught the attention of coaches with his standout performances playing at fullback for Hamilton Boys’ First XV.
Only after a yellow card to Frederico Kennedy, for throwing the ball away, were the Kiwis able to add to their tally, Brady Rush bursting through for a half-field effort against the six-man defence in the final minute.
The All Blacks Sevens complete their opening day with matches against the United States (10.34am NZ time) and Samoa (1.30pm NZT).
The series leaders are gunning to be the first side to claim multiple titles this season, with the LA leg the sixth on the calendar, and Australia, South Africa, Samoa and Argentina all also having tasted success.
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