Canadian men relegated from elite rugby 7s circuit

A dismal season ended in relegation for Canada's rugby sevens men on Sunday, beaten 22-14 by Spain in a win-or-bust match that dropped the loser out of the elite HSNC SVNS circuit.

It was a 29th straight defeat for the Canadian men, including four in a row in Madrid. The Canada men, who finished eighth at the Tokyo Olympics, have been a core team on the top sevens circuit since 2012-13 and lifted the trophy in Singapore in 2017.

Canada, which finished the season with a 3-36-0 record, will now drop down to the second-tier Challenger Series and try and claw its way back up.

The Canadian women, in contrast, finished fourth in their championship bracket, beaten 26-14 by New Zealand in the bronze medal game at Civitas Metropolitano Stadium, home of the Atletico Madrid soccer team.

The top eight men's and women's teams competed in a winner-take-all bracket for the title of Grand Final champion in Madrid while the bottom four looked to avoid relegation.

After the fifth-place Canadian women opened with a 26-19 loss Friday to the United States, they upset New Zealand 26-17 before edging Britain 22-17 in extra time to finish atop Championship Pool A on Saturday.

A Canada comeback fell just short in a 19-17 loss to No. 3 France in the women's semifinal Sunday. No. 2 Australia rallied with a converted try with the clock in the red to edge No. 1 New Zealand 21-19 in the other semi.

New Zealand avenged the pool loss to Canada in the bronze-medal game.

Mahina Paul and Theresa Setefano scored first-half tries for New Zealand after Canada's Charity Williams opened the scoring with her 99th career try.

Leading 12-7 at the break, New Zealand added tries by Alena Saili and Jorja Miller while Olivia Apps scored for Canada.

France and