Women's Rugby World Cup: New Zealand begin defence in style

New Zealand's Kelly Brazier scored two tries

New Zealand began their defence of the Women's Rugby World Cup in style with a 79-5 win against Kazakhstan in the opening game in France.

The four-time winners took the lead after just two minutes in Marcoussis when centre Huriana Manuel went over.

Kelly Brazier duly landed the first of her five conversions and the fly-half also contributed two of the 13 tries as they crushed their Pool B opponents.

Meanwhile, Canada beat Spain 31-7 and Australia defeated South Africa 26-3.

Canada winger Magali Harvey scored 26 points against Spain

Winger Magali Harvey was the star performer for the Canucks, who finished sixth at the last World Cup in England in 2010,

The 23-year-old scored all but five of their points - going over for three of their four tries, kicking all four conversions and also landing a penalty in the Pool A encounter.

Australia, looking to better their third-place finish four years ago, scored three tries en route to victory over South Africa in their Pool C opener.

Centre Sharni Williams went over in the first few minutes and full-back Ashleigh Hewson converted before adding three penalties and a try before half-time for the Wallaroos.

The 2014 World Cup sees teams split into three groups, with the final two rounds of pool fixtures to be played on 5 and 9 August at France's National Centre of Rugby in Marcoussis on the outskirts of Paris.

The semi-finals and final will be staged at the 20,000-capacity Stade Jean Bouin in central Paris, the home of top-flight men's team Stade Francais, on 13 and 17 August.