It wasn't pretty, and it was decidedly shaky, but Gordon Tietjens' New Zealanders live to fight another day at the Singapore Sevens.

Sonny Bill Williams, Liam Messam and co survived an early tumble and potential elimination in their last pool outing to set up a quarterfinal against South Africa at the latest stop on the world series at 4.20pm NZ Time on Sunday. On this form that's going to be a daunting prospect against a Blitzbokke outfit that cruised through pool play with three victories.

It was not the best of days for the Kiwis but they at least found their best form when it mattered to keep their title hopes alive with a last-up 19-12 victory over the dangerous and speedy United States.

Even then it did not come easily as, for the second straight game, the New Zealanders stalled at their halftime score.

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They had burst out of the blocks to run in tries to Regan Ware, Dylan Collier and Kurt Baker to lead 19-0 at the break, seemingly with the Americans in tatters. But then it all got tense for the Kiwis as the USA came roaring back. Maka Unufe produced a great solo effort to close to 19-7 early, Perry Baker then had one ruled out when he stepped on the end line after retrieving his own kick-though and Zack Test made it 19-12 when he gathered a cross-kick to make it 19-12. However the Americans ran out of time as the New Zealanders were able to close out without further damage. "The first game was ugly but we've made it to day two now, and that's all that matters, said Messam afterwards. "We knew it would be tough against the Americans − they're a great side and have got great pace. But we knew if we started well we were in with a chance." The Kiwis, second on the overall world series standings and fresh off a runnerup finish in Hong Kong, had made an unimpressive opening, crashing to a record defeat to France first up and then hanging on for a tenuous 24-17 victory over Canada. France's 24-0 shutout of the New Zealanders, to earn the pool's top spot, showed they had learned their lessons, after letting Tietjens' men off the hook in Hong Kong when they led 17-0, only to be hauled in 19-17 by the fast-finishing Kiwis. But there was no mistake this time. Powered by two tries from Jeromie Aicardi and a powerhouse display by Fijian-born Virimi Vakatawa, the French shut out the New Zealanders to secure their biggest ever victory over the men from the south. It was a sub-par performance from New Zealand who struggled throughout to put any pressure on the French, and paid the price. The highly rated Kiwi forwards were not able to get the ball their strike men needed, and spent most of the match chasing their opponents who grew in confidence. The New Zealanders had trailed 12-0 at halftime after Aicardi pounced on loose ball to open the scoring, before Vakatawa provided the midfield setup to allow skipper Julien Candelon to cross untouched. France extended their lead to 19-0 midway through the second half when Aicradi crossed for his second try with a magnificent burst up the middle off Vakatawa's offload, and the busy Vakatawa completed the rout when he dashed clear for a 60m solo effort to put the icing on the cake. They started much stronger against Canada, powering to a 24-0 halftime lead with Dylan Collier, Regan Ware (twice) and Gillies Kaka all crossing for tries. But a second-half hat-trick to Canada's Sean White closed the score up as the Kiwis went scoreless over the run home. The New Zealanders weren't the only ones forced to dig deep to survive at the tournament, with both Fiji and Australia upset in their pool openers as well. The Fijians were stunned 28-14 by Samoa in a cracking Pool A encounter, while in Pool D the Aussies were upended 12-7 by Argentina. In the other Cup quarterfinals, series leaders Fiji face Australia, Argentina battles Samoa and New Zealand conquerors France meet Kenya.

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