The Aussie men impressively defeated Kenya 21-7, after earlier winning a tense match against Samoa 21-14. There were some acts of brilliance in attack and desperate defence to keep the gallant Kenyans at bay.

Australian coach John Manenti switched James Turner for Corey Toole to start match two, and James delivered with a try in the first 30 seconds. Australia led 7-0 following an easy conversion from Dietrich Roache.

The Kenyans bounced back two minutes later, when Antony Myboya took a quick tap and his footwork was too fancy for Henry Hutchison to shut down. Myboya converted his own try to equal the score (7-7) and there was plenty of tension with the Aussie fans in the stands.

Coach Manenti however was calm and collected as he led the team, channeling experience for the seven Olympic debutants on the team.

“You're at the Olympics for the first time, there's going to be a bit of nerves. We’re trying to get the tournament off to a good start,” Manenti said.

“In previous Olympics, we haven't always had the best day ones. We put ourselves in a good position going into tomorrow against Argentina. We'll give it a good shot, but right now, there’s potential for a lot of wins.”

Australia lost a match on the opening days of the tournament at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, making this the men’s strongest-ever start to an Olympic campaign.

It took a brilliant Australian kick in-play to break the deadlock. The kick sat up perfectly for Nathan Lawson on the tryline, with Australia leading 14-7 at half-time.

Kenya made numerous changes early in the second half and continued to pressure Australia deep in their own half. It took a try saving tackle from Ben Dowling to keep Kenya at bay.

Henry Paterson, who didn’t get any minutes against Samoa, made a great run down the left to set up the next Australian try. The ball was spun to the other touchline quickly, with Corey then scoring his first Olympic try to seal the win for Australia.

Dietrich converted the try to give Australia a 21-7 and a clean sheet of six conversations across the two matches for the day.

Australia to take on Argentina for top spot of Pool B

Australia will now play Argentina on Thursday at 10:30pm (AEST) to round out their pool games and learn their opponents for the quarter-finals. Argentina is currently ranked world number one and sits on top of Pool B.

The South Americans looked comfortable in their two opening wins, but Australia will relish the underdog status as both teams battle to finish at the top of the pool.

Argentina beat Australia in two World Series finals earlier in the year. The Australians finished the year strong however and the South Americans were outplayed by France in the Grand Final in Madrid.

The Australians will also be the crowd favourites with the local crowd not happy with some recent controversies between the two nations.

The biggest surprise of the opening day came when host nation France drew with USA 12-12 and then they just hung on to beat Uruguay 19-12, to keep their Olympic dreams alive.

The French came into the tournament as one of the favourites having won the World Series Grand Final recently.

The Aussie women who came from the Olympic Village to cheer on their male teammates, enjoying the fantastic atmosphere at Stade de France, need to wait until Sunday before they play their opening matches.

Andrew Reid, Sarah Dyce