Canadian women finish 4th at Emirates Dubai 7s event

Canada finished fourth on the women's side of the Emirates Dubai 7s on Sunday after falling 26-5 to France in the Cup third-place playoff.

The Dubai event marks the season kickoff of the rebranded HSBC SVNS, formerly known as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

The Canadians, who went 2-1-0 on the opening day including a 29-0 loss to the French, defeated Ireland 14-12 in the quarterfinal on the strength of tries by Charity Williams and Kristy Scurfield. The Irish made it close with a late try but missed the conversion that would have tied the score.

Canada led defending Series champion New Zealand 21-14 late in the ensuing semifinal but conceded a 13th-minute converted try to Jorja Miller to lose 21-19. Florence Symonds and Carissa Norsten scored tries for Canada, which trailed 14-7 at the break.

Olivia Apps scored the lone Canadian try in the third-place playoff that saw the French lead 19-0 at the half. Australia, last season's Series runner-up, upset New Zealand 26-19 in the Cup final thanks to a 13th-minute converted try by Maddison Levi.

The Canadian women finished ninth overall last season with sixth place in both Vancouver and Hong Kong as their best showing.

It was a different story Sunday for the Canadian men who finished 12th and last after falling 21-14 to Britain in the ninth-place semifinal and 19-14 to Spain in the 11th-place playoff.

Canada lost all five outings at the tournament, beaten 26-21 by reigning Series champion New Zealand, 35-14 by defending Dubai title-holder South Africa and 24-0 by Samoa on Saturday.

The Canadian men pushed the All Blacks to the limit in their opening game, however, New Zealand got a late converted try by Fehi Fineanganofo for the win.

South Africa won the men's Cup final