Madi Levi makes Olympic history for Australia as women's rugby sevens storm into semis

Australian rugby sevens star Madi Levi has broken the record for most tries in a women's sevens Olympic Games as the Aussies continue to surge towards a gold medal in Paris. Tim Walsh's side easily dispatched Ireland 40-7 in their quarter-finals match in the early hours of Tuesday morning (AEDT), while Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand also made light work of their opposition, China, 55-5.

Australia were at their scintillating best against Ireland, with their defence rock solid and in attack, the Levi sisters sizzled. Madi led from the front with a first-half hat-trick to take her tournament try tally to 11, beating the previous Olympic record of 10 set by still-active New Zealand great Portia Woodman-Wickliffe in Rio It is an incredible feat considering Levi can still add to her try tally as she still has two matches to play at the Olympics - the semi-final and then either a play-off for gold or bronze.

After the match, Levi was understandably emotional as she revealed she might need to "have a little bit of a cry" to decompress. "It's always good to have a little bit of a cry," she said after Australia's win. "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."

Madi and her sister Teagan set the tone for the Aussies from the outset, the latter setting up the former for the first two tries before Madi brought up 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 in a barnstorming display. She then had a hand in the points putting Isabella Nasser - daughter and sister to Wallabies Brendan and Josh - through the line with a lovely short ball to put Australia out of sight.

In the semi-finals, New Zealand will play the United States, who beat Great Britain 17-7, while Australia will face Canada, who upset France 19-14. On Tuesday Canada stunned the tournament hosts, coming back from 14-7 down to score a five-point win. They will go into the clash with Australia as big underdogs, with the Aussies in sublime form in Paris.

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Australia on a collision course with New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand went into the Paris Games fully aware that they would likely need to beat their Trans-Tasman rival to take home gold. The Kiwis won gold in Rio and Tokyo, while Australia suffered heartbreak in Tokyo, being knocked out in the quarter-finals. But they now find themselves two wins away from taking home the gold.

In the years since Tokyo, Australia has proved to be a bit of a bogey team for New Zealand. Across the recent World Series matches, Australia and New Zealand have gone 3-3. In the most recent encounter, Australia scored and converted after the siren to win their last meeting in the World Series finale semi-final.

But that mouth-watering clash isn't a certainty just yet with the Kiwis needing to beat the USA in the first semi, while Australia will need to dispatch a red-hot Canadian side who will be full of confidence after beating France. And while the Australian seven's coach admitted they were expecting France to progress to the semis, they won't be overlooking the threat Canada possesses. "We did expect France, at home, but Canada has 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."