Canada’s Ashley Steacy goes flying after a hit from Fiji’s Ana Roqica, left, at Westhills Stadium in Langford, B.C., on Sunday.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
Canada lost 12-5 to England in the Cup quarter-finals Sunday at the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, consigning the home side to no better than a fifth-place finish.
Series-leading New Zealand and No. 7 Russia won their semi-finals to advance to the championship game, leaving No. 4 France and No. 6 England to contest third place.
Canada, tied for second with Australia in the overall standings, rebounded from the England loss to thump No. 8 Fiji 45-0, earning a date with the United States in the Plate final for fifth place.
It makes the first time in 10 tournaments that Canada has not finished in the top four. The Canadians had placed in the top three in its past seven events.
The Canadian women had high hopes of success after going 3-0 Saturday as the women's sevens competition came to Canada for the first time.
Canada started on the right foot Sunday after a fine solo run by Kayla Moleschi took it deep into England territory from the kickoff. But it failed to convert the advantage and trailed 7-0 at the half on a converted try by Amy Wilson-Hardy.
Bianca Farella's try in the corner early in the second half cut the lead to 7-5, but Emily Scarratt's late try put the game away for England.
"It was a huge disappointment for us," said Canadian coach John Tait. "We wanted to attack them with our speed and try to use the space that the field has. And we played their game pretty much from start to finish, just going one pass and out and taking it into contact, which is England's game.
"I think we had enough ball. It's just what we did with it wasn't good enough to get us into the semis."
Russia posted the first upset of the day under the sunshine at Westhills Stadium, defeating Australia 17-12 in their quarter-final before scoring a later try to edge France 14-12 in the semi-final. New Zealand beat Fiji 26-5 and France blanked the United States 17-0 in the other quarter-finals.
Canada defeated Russia, South Africa and the United States on Saturday. Australia and New Zealand also went unbeaten on Day 1.
Going into the final, New Zealand had won 35 games in a row with an overall record of 69-5-2 since the women's series began in 2012. The Kiwis' last defeat was to Australia in the final of the Sao Paulo Sevens on Feb. 22, 2014.
The Canadian stop was the fourth on the circuit, following events in Dubai, Sao Paulo and Atlanta. The series shifts to London on May 15-16 before wrapping up in Amsterdam May 22-23.