PARIS, France (AFP) — Defending champions New Zealand, fellow favourites Australia, France and the US all qualified for the Olympic sevens quarter-finals on Sunday in a historic day for women’s rugby.

A sell-out crowd of 69,000 packed into the Stade de France to make it the best ever attended women’s rugby event.

World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin told AFP the attendance was “incredible”, capping what he called a “coming-of-age” moment for the abbreviated version of rugby union.

New Zealand, gold medallists at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, put China to the sword in their Pool A opener, Michaela Blyde scoring four tries in the 43-5 win.

A Jorja Miller brace and a solo effort from women’s rugby great Portia Woodman-Wickliffe then helped the Kiwis to a 33-7 victory over Canada, themselves 17-14 winners in their opening fixture against Tokyo bronze medallists Fiji.

China rebounded to spring a surprise 40-12 victory over the Fijians.

Try machine Maddison Levi scored seven tries on the day as 2016 Olympic champions Australia first outclassed South Africa 34-5 in Pool B, the winger crossing four times.

She then bagged three more in a comprehensive 36-5 victory over Britain, who had beaten Ireland 21-12 in their opener.

Levi, whose sister Teagan is also in the Australian squad and also scored a try against Britain, called the sell-out stadium “really special”.

“To be out there with my sister is super special,” she said. “To be able to start like that and build as the tournament goes on is an awesome feeling.

“It’s surreal walking out into a stadium in front of so many people. It’s awesome to see that not only men’s, but women’s rugby sevens gets crowds like this.”

After their opening defeat, Ireland rebounded to hand South Africa a 38-0 drubbing, with a spot in the quarter-finals still to play for on Monday.

The Stade de France was still abuzz from the euphoria of having witnessed Antoine Dupont leading the French past Fiji to the host country’s first gold of the Paris Games in the men’s tournament on Saturday.

The French women, looking to match their male counterparts’ success and improve on their own silver medal showing from the Tokyo Games, opened their account with a 26-0 win over Brazil in Pool C.

Ian Jason then crossed for a hat-trick as the hosts demolished Japan 49-0 to set up a pool-topping decider against the United States on Monday.

The US overran Japan 36-7 despite Sakura Mizutani handing the Japanese a surprise early lead before edging Brazil 24-5 to also qualify.

Social media star Ilona Maher — who promotes body positivity and women’s health to her followers on TikTok (1.4 million) and Instagram (1.2 million) — scored the first of six unanswered US tries against Japan and a fine solo effort in the Brazil win.

“It is really important to have a profile, and a profile for our sport. It’s about building the brand,” said Maher, who always takes to the pitch wearing bright red lipstick.

“We are female rugby players — we’re not getting million dollar contracts, we’re not getting paid the money that we should be.

“Me and my friends are keen on getting the sport out there and getting us noticed. It’s important in the US where so much attention is on other sports.

“It’s just about showing the personality that the women have. The game is very strong, not just for men, but for women, too.”