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New Zealand's Tomasi Cama - Source: Photosport
New Zealand defeated Scotland 22-7 in their first pool match at the Wellington Sevens this afternoon.
Ardie Savea scored his first try on debut and skipper DJ Forbes notched a hat-trick, but an injury to Toby Arnold will leave real concerns in the NZ camp.
Scotland's Andrew Turnball collected his own chip and chase to shock the Kiwis early and race behind the posts to put the underdogs on the board first.
Adding to the early blow, star Arnold left the field straight after the try, hobbling off with a leg injury.
Arnold posted on Twitter, saying: "Out of tournament tweeps. Absolutely gutted.''
Scotland had the lion's share of possession throughout the half, as a rattled and frustrated New Zealand struggled to shake off the shock of losing Arnold.
A last-gasp attempt to open the account failed for New Zealand in the dying seconds of the first half but stalwart defence put paid to that.
But the second half saw a refocused NZ take aim at Scotland as they ran in four tries, and Frank Halai's fend on Turnball to score a full-length five-pointer was the perfect start to the carnage.
NZ went back-to-back to score straight after the restart, as Forbes charged into the left-hand corner.
Forbes collected his second not long after, as Halai stole the ball from Turball, and the turnover had Scotland back peddling, but not able to recover.
It was three in a row and a hat-trick for Forbes as the Kiwis stretched the Scots from right to left, allowing Forbes to go into the favoured left-hand corner once more.
Savea celebrated his debut with a try after the final hooter had sounded.
NZ play Japan at 6.08 and Samoa at 9.58 in their final two pool matches at Westpac Stadium tonight.
Wellington Sevens fixtures and restults .
Wellington Sevens live on TV One and live-streamed on tvnz.co.nz on Friday and Saturday. Plus catch up OnDemand.
