Australia have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Rugby Sevens in Wellington after finishing second in Pool C.

Despite a first-up loss to South Africa, victories over Kenya and France were enough for the Aussies to secure a quarter-final berth for the first time since the London Sevens last season.

Drawn in arguably the toughest group of the tournament, the Aussies were always going to find it difficult against third seeds South Africa in the opening game.

The Africans came out firing, racing to a 12-0 lead inside five minutes, but Australia hit back with a James Lew try on the halftime siren to reduce the deficit. Peter Owens added the extras for a 12-7 halftime score.

Despite another Australian try in the opening minutes of the second half, two further tries for the South Africans proved to be enough to fend off a solid Aussie challenge, 24-14.

In the second match, Australia responded to their opening loss with a convincing three-tries-to-nil victory against a highly-fancied Kenyan outfit.

Mitchell Inman, Tim Wright and Lew again crossed for tries in the morale-boosting win.

The Aussies entered their final match against France knowing that a victory would, for the first time this season, secure a cup quarter-final berth.

After France took an early lead, the Australians came storming back into the contest with three tries to take a dominant 19-7 lead with only minutes remaining.

The French responded with a try through Joffrey Michel, but a second try to Queensland speedster Blair Connor saw the Australians safely progress to the last eight, where they will play Scotland on Saturday.

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