Stacey Fluhler's try double has guided the Black Ferns Sevens to victory over France to maintain their unbeaten pool record at the Sydney Sevens.
After overwhelming Papua New Guinea 48-0 in the tournament opener, the NZ women extended their winning streak on the world series with a 29-14 result over the French, whom they beat for gold at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.
France took an early lead through a try from Ian Jason, but the Ferns responded with four unanswered efforts, including Fluhler's pair, to put the contest beyond reach for their opponents. Jason scored a second for the French, before veteran Portia Woodman-Wickliffe added to her record tryscoring haul on the circuit.
New Zealand took full toll of a yellow card to Joanna Grisez just before halftime, with Fluhler running in her second try and Jorja Miller opening the scoring after the break, with France down to six players.
"They play typical French rugby, which is what they see on the go," said Woodman-Wickliffe. "They offload, they go to ruck, they don't go to ruck, they don't offload... you never know what they're going to do and I love that.
"The two games today weren't good enough. Having back-to-backs comes into it, but it's not good enough and we need to pick it up tomorrow."
New Zealand have dominated the last two tournaments at Cape Town and Hamilton, leapfrogging above reigning champions Australia to the top of the world series standings at their home event last week.
They wind up their pool fixtures against Japan on Saturday afternoon (NZ time).
In other pools, Great Britain, Australia and Ireland are also unbeaten after the opening day of competition.
NZ 29 (Fluhler 2, Felix-Hotham, Miller & Woodman-Wickliffe tries; Pouri-Lane 2 conversions) France 14 (Jason 2 tries; Yengo & Amedee conversions)
