The Scots qualified from Pool A despite only winning one game and losing two.
New Zealand cruised through Pool A, scoring 85 unanswered points against Wales, France and Scotland.
Second place in the pool went to the Scots, but only on points difference after all three Six Nations sides finished with one win and two losses. In the end Scotland avoided a loss by 32 points or more, which would have put France into the Cup quarters in their place.
Scotland's Day One results
Scotland 19 - France 12
Scotland 7s made a winning start to the USA Sevens in San Diego with a win over France.
France took an early lead but Scotland levelled the score with a try from Chris Fusaro which was converted by Mike Adamson.
The Scots then took the lead when Greig Laidlaw crossed the line and Adamson was again on target with the conversion.
Richie Vernon put the Scots 12 points in front with a try of his own in the second half.
France fought back with a try in the last play of the game but it was Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell who was pleased with his sides performance after the 14 minutes.
He said: “There was some very good stuff in attack in that game. We looked very dangerous.
“There are a few things to work on in defence because we fell off a few tackles but it’s a positive start to the tournament.”
Scotland 7s: Scott Forrest CAPTAIN, Chris Fusaro, Richie Vernon, Greig Laidlaw, Mike Adamson, James Thompson, Colin Shaw
Substitutes: Jamie Hunter for Fusaro, Ali Warnock for Shaw and Scott Newlands for Vernon
Scotland 12 - Wales 14
Scotland met Wales for the second time in a week, having faced them at the Wellington Sevens in New Zealand last weekend, and it was Wales who took the spoils once again.
Wales came out of the blocks quickest in this encounter with two early tries.
But it was Mike Adamson who continued to pile on the points with his own try before he converted a Richie Vernon score.
Coach Stephen Gemmell was first to admit that it was a very close encounter: “It was a very tight game as the score suggests.
“In the end, we just fell off a few crucial tackles and could get that late score to win it. It could’ve gone either way in the end so it was unfortunate not to get the second win.”
Scotland 7s: Scott Forrest CAPTAIN, Chris Fusaro, Richie Vernon, Greig Laidlaw, Mike Adamson, James Thompson, Colin Shaw
Substitutes: Jamie Hunter for Fusaro and Scott Newlands for Vernon
New Zealand 27 - Scotland 0
Scotland’s last game of day one had to be the hardest they have faced so far in the series.
Having already played two tough games, they were up against a New Zealand side that hadn’t only gone unbeaten all day, but a side that had claimed the Cup title in all three preceding legs of the IRB Sevens World Series.
However, coach Stephen Gemmell explained the importance of keeping the deficit below 31 points.
He said: “With that result, we have qualified for the Cup quarter-finals in day two on points difference.
France beat Wales to give us a chance of qualification so it was vital to keep the score below 31 points.
It was an outstanding effort defensively by the boys and it’s a great achievement to go nine consecutive Cup quarter-finals.”
Scotland will play Samoa at 12:34pm today in San Diego (8:34pm GMT) in the Cup quarter-final.
Scotland 7s: Scott Forrest CAPTAIN, Chris Fusaro, Richie Vernon, Greig Laidlaw, Mike Adamson, James Thompson, Colin Shaw
Substitutes: Scott Newlands for Forrest and Ali Warnock for Adamson