Michael Hooper has produced a trademark play as Australia beat Fiji in the former Wallabies captain's rugby sevens debut.
The 125-Test flanker was made to wait for his first taste of the action in Hong Kong on Friday, injected with little more than two minutes remaining and his side ahead 12-0.
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That's how the score remained, thanks in part to the 32-year-old who has designs on an Olympic debut in Paris in July.
He made back-to-back tackles off a scrum before he was penalised taking his first hit-up. But Hooper worked back to disrupt play and then had the final say, winning a penalty with some trademark pilfering at the breakdown.
"I was bloody nervous today and before the match; sitting on the bench is new to me," Hooper said post-game.
"It's pretty special (to play in Hong Kong); it's bucket-list stuff and I'm happy to get one under the belt.
"Big win, but we've got to go again against the French tonight, doesn't get any easier."
They were unable to replicate this effort against Vancouver runners up France, going down 19-14.
Hooper came on in the final two minutes but was unable to stop a rampaging France outfit who came to Hong Kong without Antoine Dupont, scoring after the siren to claim the win.
Australia's series-leading women won both their games on day one, albeit in contrasting fashion as they suffered another red card for a high tackle.
The Rio Olympic champions were staring down the barrel of their first loss to Fiji in their 35-game head-to-head history.
Trailing 12-0 after just four minutes they found a way back, Faith Nathan hitting top gear then veteran Sharni Smale powering over from close-range.
Madison Ashby then paid the price for not lowering her height, clashing heads attempting a tackle and copping the team's fourth red card of the season.
Still they found a way, Maddison Levi scoring and then laying a crucial tackle in the final stages to secure the win.
They then turned the tables on Ireland, a 35-0 shut-out an emphatic response to the underdogs' upset win in the Perth decider in January.
Ruby Nicholas iced the five-try drubbing, breaking away to score on her debut, leaving Australia in the box seat to top their pool ahead of a final round-robin clash with South Africa on Saturday.
