The Canadian women鈥檚 rugby sevens squad claimed third place at the HSBC SVNS tournament at B.C. Place after outlasting Australia 19-14 on Sunday.
Krissy Scurfield opened the scoring for Canada in the opening minute, screaming for a pass before running it three-quarters of the field for the try.
Australia tied it through Madison Ashby, before Chloe Daniels outran Charlotte Caslick to retake the lead.
Charity Williams then scored her sixth try of the tournament to seal the win and third place.
Canada lost 15-7 earlier in the day in the semifinals to New Zealand.
Canada coach Jack Hanratty felt his young side held its own against an experienced Black Ferns squad.
鈥淚 thought we matched them physically,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to look at instead of chasing a game, how we can dictate the tempo.鈥�
The Black Ferns started quickly, hemming Canada in and looking for turnovers from rucks.
Michaela Blyde scored twice in the first half to send New Zealand out to an early lead before Krissy Scurfield ran nearly the length of the field to put Canada on the board.
But New Zealand put the game away early in the second half with Portia Woodman-Wickliffe scoring the try.
The experience of playing a historically dominant rugby sevens squad in the later stages of a tournament is good preparation for Canada ahead of the Olympic Games, Hanratty added.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to be Olympic medal contenders this year, if we lose a semifinal we can鈥檛 lay down the chips, we have to make sure we bounce back,鈥� he said.
In men鈥檚 action, Argentina will face New Zealand for the title. France and the U.S. will play for third.
The Canadian men鈥檚 rugby sevens squad finished 12th at the HSBC SVNS on Sunday after losing 17-12 to Spain in sudden-death overtime.
Canada went winless in the tournament on home turf, also losing to Spain in group stage action Saturday. It was the third time in four events this season the Canadian men have recorded a last-place finish.
Elias Hancock opened the scoring for Canada after Thomas Isherwood won a line-in, off-loading to Jack Carson.
Spain countered with Juan Ramos scoring before Carson regained the lead for Canada at the end of the first half.
But the Spanish side tied the score thanks to Francisco Cosculluela before securing the win in overtime.
Once again, Canadian head coach Sean White was happy with the fight shown by his team.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the response we鈥檙e looking for,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e wanted more grit.
鈥淲e鈥檙e creating opportunities, we鈥檙e just not capitalizing at the moment.鈥�
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Nick Wells, The Canadian Press
