Hogan-Rochester helps Canada rugby 7 women finish third in season finale

Asia Hogan-Rochester scored three tries as the Canadian women's rugby sevens team rallied from an early deficit Sunday to defeat the U.S. 27-7 and earn bronze at the HSBC SVNS World Championship.

The Canadians, silver medallists at the Paris Olympics, had also finished third in Hong Kong and Singapore, the two events preceding the season finale.

Canada finished fourth in last season's finale in Madrid in June, beaten 26-14 by No. 1 New Zealand in the bronze-medal game.

The Springbok Sevens defeated Spain 19-5 in the men's final while New Zealand's Black Ferns — who had already claimed the sevens series title — added to their trophy haul with a 31-7 victory over Australia in the women's final.

The final event of the season saw the top eight men's and women's sides from the elite HSBC SVNS compete in the winner-take-all world championship at Dignity Health Sports Park, which will host rugby sevens at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The Canada women, fourth after the first six events of the season, defeated No. 5 Japan 26-0 and No. 8 Britain 26-17 before falling 41-5 to New Zealand in group play. The women lost 33-7 to Australia earlier Sunday in semifinal play with Hogan-Rochester accounting for the Canadian points with a converted try and Faith Nathan scoring three tries for Australia.

That set up the third-place game against the sixth-ranked U.S., who lost 34-9 to New Zealand in the other semifinal

Sariah Ibarra sliced through the Canada defence for an early 7-0 U.S. lead. But poor discipline cost the Americans with Ibarra sent to the sin bin for an infraction soon after, reducing the U.S. to six players for the next two minutes.

Canada took advantage, pulling ahead 10-7 on tries via Charity Williams and Carissa Norsten