By Ben
March 23 2012

The top six in the HSBC Sevens World Series standings were all made to work hard for opening pool wins at the Cathay Pacific/ HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.Crowd favourites England beat Argentina at the end of a breathless first day's play and here is a full round-up of all the action from the main competition.

Hong Kong Sevens Day 1 Review

Pool A (SAM, ENG, ARG, KEN)

USA Sevens champions Samoa began their Hong Kong Sevens campaign with a 19-7 victory against Kenya thanks to tries from Ken Pisi, Paul Perez and Alatasi Tupou.

They will be looking for a second successive Cup victory this weekend in Hong Kong, but all three of their pool opponents were quarter finalists in Las Vegas.

England are fourth in the World Series standings and got off to a winning start in front of the ex-pat crowd, beating Argentina 19-10 thanks to tries from Dan Norton, Rob Vickerman and Mat Turner.

Pool B (NZL, RSA, WAL, USA)

Current Series leaders New Zealand beat USA 29-5 thanks to another impressive performance from the influential Tomasi Cama as Alex Magleby suffered defeat in his first match as the new coach of USA.

The 2008/09 World Series winners South Africa beat reigning RWC Sevens champions Wales 10-0 in the second Pool B match, the day's penultimate match, thanks to tries from Boom Prinsloo and Cecil Afrika.

Gordon Tietjens' side are without the Series' leading try scorer Frank Halai, Solomon King, Lote Raikabula and Toby Arnold but will still be hoping to defend their title.

Pool C (FJI, AUS, FRA, SCO)

Isikeli Tulwainunu Vuruna scored two of Fiji's seven tries as the side currently lying second in the World Series beat Scotland 39-5 in Pool C. The Gold Coast Sevens champions Fiji now face matches with France and Australia on day two.

Greg Jeloudev scored a hat-trick for Australia against the Dubai Sevens runners-up France as they began their Hong Kong Sevens campaign with a 31-10 victory.