The Australians were in ruthless form on their way to topping Pool C and they will be officially crowned champions if they get past Spain in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

If they can overcome their European opponents, Australia will break the monopoly of New Zealand, who have won all three of the overall Women’s Series crowns to date since it was established in 2012.

Australia began in ominous fashion as Emma Tonegato ran in two tries in a comprehensive 34-0 thrashing of Fiji in their opening match.

That set the tone for a flawless day from the Australian outfit, who then went over the line six times in an equally-dominant 40-5 victory over Ireland to ensure their qualification for the last eight.

Their third and final match in the group stage proved to be their toughest but they were still able to emerge victorious, overcoming hosts France 19-12 in one of the standout clashes of the first day’s action at the Stade Gabriel Montpied.

Australia were one of three teams to reach the last eight with a 100 per cent record as England and New Zealand also secured three straight wins.

Defending champions New Zealand are not quite ready to give up their title as they started with a 34-0 success against Russia, during which Portia Woodman bagged a hat-trick.

The Oceanian powerhouses then hammered Japan 40-0 and edged a narrow clash with Canada 19-17 to claim top spot in Pool B and set up a meeting with the hosts in the next round.

England, currently third on the leaderboard, made light work of their three group games, breezing through to the quarter-finals with ease.

Their Pool A campaign got off to the best possible start as they beat the United States 26-7, before they kept in a clean sheet in a straight-forward 22-0 victory against Kenya.

The English team beat Spain by the same scoreline as their match with the Americans to finish at the summit of the group.

The US await for England in the last eight, while Canada will take on Fiji for a place in the semi-finals.