A brilliant Mark Nawaqanitawase cameo has pushed unbeaten Australia into an Olympic rugby sevens quarter-final with the United States in Paris.
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But their third-straight win, this time 22-14 over heavyweights Argentina, is no cause to celebrate ahead of a program-defining quarter-final later on Thursday night at a pulsating Stade de France.
Victory would propel them into Saturday's semi-finals - potentially against Fiji - a Games-best result for the men after two Olympics disappointments.
The US were pipped for an automatic quarter-final berth but finished as the best third-placed side to draw Australia.
Perry Baker remains the danger after becoming the first to score four tries in an Olympic game in a 33-17 win over Uruguay earlier on Thursday.
"We haven't achieved anything yet," Australian captain Nick Malouf said.
Malouf has endured quarter-final losses at both previous Games, but the team's never entered the knockout stages in the form they've displayed so far in Paris.
"There's no quarter-final that's going to be easy," he said.
"It's about continuing your momentum through.
"Look at Fiji, haven't lost a game at the Olympics, and have two gold medals that speaks for itself."
Australia ground out wins over Samoa and Kenya on Wednesday but showed another gear against Argentina, who scored first but lost control when Luciano Gonzalez knocked Nathan Lawson as he chased a loose ball into the in-goal area.
Australia scored the next three tries but missed the conversions, Matias Osadczuk's try making it 15-14 with just under three minutes to play
Enter NRL-bound former Wallabies winger Nawaqanitawase.
Used sparingly on the opening day, the hulking future Sydney Roosters flyer tore down the right wing, attracting three defenders and then offloading.
He then got involved twice more, throwing the final pass to Malouf for the match-sealer.
"Look at that performance, Mark's earnt his spot," Malouf said.
"I don't think anyone was shocked at what he can do, that's why you (NRL) blokes are licking your lips that you're taking him.
"That's why we got him, we want impact off the bench.
"We've got a lot of strike power in our side and didn't want to keep it in the chamber."
France's tight loss to two-time defending Olympic champions Fiji saw them scrape ahead of the US into second in their section, avoiding a date with Australia and setting up a final-eight clash with Argentina.
The Australia-US quarter-final is at 10.30pm local time Friday (0630 AEST Saturday).
Australian Associated Press
