A pair of Levis have ensured Australia remain on track for a ding-dong battle with New Zealand for a second Olympic rugby sevens gold after both teams dominated their quarter-finals in Paris.
Tim Walsh’s side beat Ireland 40-7 after New Zealand brushed off some unlikely early resistance from China to win 55-5 in front of 70,000 at Stade de France on Monday.
New Zealand will play United States, who beat Great Britain 17-7, in their semi-final.
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Canada spoiled the script for the raucous home fans when they came from 14-7 down to beat France 19-14 and deny the hosts a blockbuster semi-final with Australia.
It all went to script for Maddison Levi though, who scored a first-half hat-trick and revealed post-game she might “have a little bit of a cry” to decompress.
Her 11th try for the tournament beat the previous Olympic record mark of 10 set by still-active New Zealand great Portia Woodman-Wickliffe in Rio.
“It’s always good to have a little bit of a cry,” she said in a nod to the pressures of the helter-skelter code.
“Just a bit of a release … it’s pretty random to be honest.
“It’s just where you’ve come from and it’s such a special moment to realise how far you’ve come.”
Her and sister Teagan set the tone, the latter setting up the former for the first two tries.
Levi had her third with one minute still to play in the first half.
Faith Nathan then got involved, cutting back off her left foot to make it 26-0 at the break.
Charlotte Caslick defended stoutly and forced two crucial turnovers, then threw a neat short ball that allowed Isabella Nasser – daughter and sister to Wallabies Brendan and Josh – to stroll under the posts and complete the carnage.
It was all a footnote to what’s next though, the Rio 2016 champions and Tokyo victors New Zealand seemingly on a collision course for gold in what will be the farewell for some on both teams.
They split their encounters 3-3 across the world series, Australia miraculously scoring and converting after the siren to win their last meeting in the world series finale semi-final.
Canada will have something to say though after their upset of a red-hot France.
Crafty halfback Piper Logan’s second try was the match-winner, fooling everyone in the stadium when she darted down the blindside in the final 30 seconds of the game to break French hearts.
“We did expect France, at home, but Canada have a lot of threats and we’ve done our homework,” Walsh said.
“Every game, the boiling point gets hotter, but we’re trying to normalise it.
“Live in the moment, I think we’ll perform but if not we’ll have to learn.”