Australia, NZ women on track for Olympic rugby sevens final

Australia thrashed Ireland 40-7 in the quarter-finals of the Olympics women’s rugby sevens event on Tuesday morning (AEST) and are on track to meet rivals New Zealand in the gold medal match later this week.

Maddison Levi took less than a minute to score against Ireland, with the Australians running in a further three first-half tries to take a 26-0 lead at the break.

It did not get any easier for Ireland in the second half, as Australia scored again to go 33-0 up before Stacey Flood bagged her side’s only try as a consolation.

With the win, Australia book their spot in the semi-finals against Canada.

They are heavy favourites to win, paying just $1.062 at bookmaker Bet365. The Aussie women have a -17.5 handicap, paying $1.90 to win by 18 or more points.

New Zealand out for revenge after Rio 2016 defeat

Should Australia win their semi-final, they will likely play New Zealand in the decider.

The Kiwi women thrashed China 55-5 in their quarter-final, with their opponents unable to repeat their heroics from earlier in the Games.

New Zealand will face the United States in their semi-final. NZ are $1.05 favourites to win, with a -18.5 handicap at $1.90.

The last time Australia and New Zealand played in the Olympics was in the gold medal match at Rio in 2016.

Australia took the match 24-17, despite being underdogs with Olympics bookmakers.

Now, New Zealand are looking for revenge, having been deprived of the opportunity when Australia crashed out early at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The semi-finals will be played in Paris on Tuesday night (AEST), with the final to come early on Wednesday morning.

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