New Zealand are one win away from securing the inaugural women’s world sevens rugby series crown after emerging unbeaten from pool play at the Amsterdam tournament.
Convincing defeats of Russia (17-5), China (24-0) and the Netherlands (15-0) means series leaders New Zealand can guarantee victory in the four-leg championship by beating Spain in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
The Spanish suffered heavy losses to the United States and Australia in pool play.
New Zealand’s nearest rivals are England – who were unbeaten in pool play along with the US – but they are eight points back in second place on the series standings.
Australia lost to the USA 10-5 while beating Spain 31-7 and Brazil 24-0.
The New Zealanders conceded just one try in their three games on Friday while scoring 10.
Other Cup quarter-finals will pit Australia against Russia, England against France and the United States against Canada.
The women’s sevens world series was established this year to provide the first regular international competition for teams following the introduction of sevens rugby into the Olympics ahead of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
New Zealand won the first tournament in Dubai and the third in Guangzhou.