New Zealand have made the perfect start to their defence of the IRB Sevens World Series crown with victories in Dubai and George, but they will face their toughest day one challenge yet when they face Samoa in the Wellington leg on Friday.

Samoa have fond memories of the New Zealand International Sevens, the Westpac Stadium the venue for their first ever Series Cup success in 2007 and they will be out to kickstart their 2007/08 challenge with a only sixth win in 28 attempts against their rivals.

Ironically the last time the two teams met in the pool stages in Wellington, the match ended in a 5-5 draw back in 2006 as both sides reached the Cup quarter-finals in a tournament that Fiji went on to win by beating South Africa in the final.

Two other interesting statistics from the head-to-head match ups on day one in Wellington are that Wales have never beaten their Pool B opponents the Cook Islands, having drawn one and lost one of their two meetings in Hong Kong back in 2003.

Milestones on the cards in Wellington

While the USA can only boast one win against any of their Pool D opponents – against Tonga in the Bowl quarter-final in Wellington back in 2002. They have lost all nine matches against Argentina, two against Scotland and four of five against Tonga.

The New Zealand International Sevens should see a number of other statistical milestones reached, including one in the Argentina v USA opening match as the first score will bring up 117,500 points in the history of the IRB Sevens World Series.

Two hundred and 28 tries will bring the Series total to 19,000, and if 223 of these are converted then that number will reach 12,000. However while these numbers are in their thousands, only 32 penalties and six drop goals have been kicked in the nine Series.

New Zealand need only 21 tries to become the first team to score 2,000 in the Series – they have scored 65 already in 2007/08 – while Australia and Samoa will be racing each other to 1,400 with 11 and 24 tries required respectively.

We take a look at some of the other milestones looming on the horizon and the players setting the pace in the statistical charts after the opening two events of the 2007/08 Series in Dubai and George before Christmas:

* Uale Mai will equal Amasio Valence Raoma’s record of 50 IRB Sevens World Series appearances at the USA Sevens in San Diego, a tournament that will also see Argentina’s Santiago Gómez Cora move above current Canada coach Shane Thompson into third with 47.

* New Zealand have scored the most tries in 2007/08 with 65 – an average of 5.4 per match. Fiji are next best with 56, followed by Samoa (41), South Africa and England (40). The Arabian Gulf have scored the fewest with two in Dubai, while Tunisia are the highest non-core team with 29.

* Samoan newcomer Alafoti Fa’osiliva is the leading try scorer with 14, but is hotly followed by Fijian pair Neumi Nanuku (13) and Emosi Vucago (12) along with South Africa’s Fabian Juries (12). New Zealand have four players in the top 12 in Zar Lawrence (10), Israel Dagg, Lote Raikabula and Steven Yates (all eight).

* Only five nations have won the Wellington leg of the IRB Sevens World Series in Fiji (1999/2006), Australia (2000), South Africa (2001), New Zealand (2003-2005) and Samoa (2007).

* By contrast the USA Sevens has witnessed a different winner each time with Argentina (2004), New Zealand (2005), England (2006) and Fiji (2007). Will that trend continue in San Diego next weekend?

* Neumi Nanuku is the leading point scorer in 2007/08 with 113 points from Lote Raikabula 78 and Emosi Vucago 74. The Fijian has also kicked the most conversions with 24, five more than New Zealand’s Raikabula.

* Only eight nations have scored more than 1,000 tries in IRB Sevens World Series history – New Zealand (1,979), Fiji (1,809), Australia (1,389), Samoa (1,376), England (1,261), Argentina (1,213) and Canada (1,025). France will be the next as they currently sit on 944.

* Damon Murphy is the only player to score four tries in a single match this Series, the Australian crossing four times in their 34-7 defeat of Uganda at the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens in George. The record remains Vilimoni Delasau’s with six in Fiji’s 80-0 defeat of China at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2000.

* New Zealand have scored the most points this Series with 403 – an average of 33.6 per match. Fiji, the side they have beaten in both finals, are the next best with 344 or 28.7 per match.

* Ben Gollings’ return to the England side means that he and South African Fabian Juries will be battling it out for second place in the all-time try scoring charts. Santiago Gómez Cora leads the way with 177, but Juries (144) leapfrogged Gollings (143) in George.

* The highest aggregate score in 2007/08 is New Zealand’s 64-0 defeat of the Arabian Gulf in Pool A at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens, still 21 shy of the record 85 from Canada’s 78-7 defeat of Mexico in Los Angeles in 2006.

* The race is on to become the fourth player to surpass 1,000 Series points – after Ben Gollings, Waisale Serevi and Amasio Valence Raoma – with Uale Mai on 922 and Santiago Gómez Cora on 901.

* Tafai Ioasa needs seven tries to become New Zealand’s leading try scorer in IRB Sevens history. He currently sits on 107 from his 42 tournaments, five behind Karl Tenana and six behind Amasio Valence Raoma.

* Ben Gollings needs only eight conversions to equal Waisale Serevi’s benchmark of 457.

* Neumi Nanuku occupies two of the top three spots for most points scored in a single match this Series with 19 and 17 against Australia and Scotland in Dubai. However Damon Murphy’s four tries against Uganda in George give him top spot with 20. The record is Fijian Saula Rabaka’s 32-point haul in a 71-0 win over Malaysia in Shanghai in April 2001.

Statistics provided by Hour Glass Vision