Canada dazzle to end New Zealand's World Cup dominance and reach final

BRISTOL, England :Canada ended New Zealand's decade of dominance at the Women's World Cup, conjuring a 34-19 victory over the Black Ferns on Friday to reach the final and inflict a first defeat in the tournament on the double defending champions since 2014.

Justine Pelletier, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Florence Symonds, and Sophie de Goede crossed for Canada in a stunning first-half performance and Alex Tessier added another try after the break to extend what was already a healthy lead.

Six-times champions New Zealand produced a spirited fightback in the second half but could not prevent the Canadians reaching their second World Cup final after losing to England 11 years ago.

It was New Zealand's first World Cup semi-final defeat since 1991 with Canada now eagerly awaiting the winners of Saturday's second semi-final between England and France in the decider at Twickenham next Saturday.

"I'm excited already," said Canada coach Kevin Rouet. "I said to the girls to stop crying because we have a job to do in eight days. That's the mindset. We need to finish the job and be ready in eight days."

Ranked second in the world and one place above New Zealand, Canada were hardly underdogs but their opponents' record spoke for itself and when it came to the hardened business of winning World Cup semi-finals the Black Ferns were in a different league.

This was their eighth and they had won the previous six while Canada by contrast had lost all but one of their previous five last-four encounters.

Yet if the Canadians were intimidated by their opponents' World Cup pedigree, they certainly did not show it as they took the match by the scruff of the neck with a devastating first-half display.

They scored their first try in the eighth minute when