Australia's men have been overpowered by New Zealand to lose their opening pool match at the Sydney rugby sevens.
The home side had the early run of field position at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, but could not break the Kiwi line before the visitors registered back-to-back tries on the way to the 26-14 win.
Vilimoni Koroi sliced through the Australian defence in midfield to score the opener, before teammate Tim Mikkelson crossed with three minutes left in the half after an opposition knock-on at the kick restart.
Down 14-0, Australia lifted to wrestle back momentum but looked to bomb a clear try-scoring opportunity when captain Sam Myers attempted to barge over from close range rather than shifting wide to an open teammate.
A penalty try put the locals on the board, before Charlie Taylor pounced on a wayward New Zealand pass deep in their own territory, then finding Henry Hutchinson to deadlock the scores at half time.
But the second half belonged to the men in black, with a clever Sherwin Stowers interception giving New Zealand the lead before and a try to Rocky Khan sealed the 12-point victory.
Australia meet Scotland in their second pool game at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
