Canada takes down U.S. at Women's Rugby World Cup to set up quarter-final rematch
CBC
Canada ran in five tries Sunday to defeat the United States 29-14 for its third straight victory at the Women's Rugby World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.
The Canadians had already qualified for the quarter-finals and were looking to improve their seeding in the knockout round. A third consecutive bonus-point win — for four tries scored — means Canada finishes atop Pool B and goes into the final eight as the second seed and will meet the seventh-seeded Americans again in next weekend's quarter-finals.
"We just played the game today and we have to replay that next week. So we're going to be ready for that," said Canada coach Kevin Rouet.
"I think the quarter-final's going to be cracker," said U.S. coach Rob Cain.
Host New Zealand (3-0-0) finished as top seed on points difference and will play eighth-seeded Wales.
WATCH | Canadian women defeat U.S. for 3rd straight World Cup victory:
The Canadian forwards continued to show off their driving maul. But this time the backs demonstrated attacking flair with Alex Tessier pulling the strings from fly half. Alysha Corrigan excelled at outside centre.
On the minus side, Canadian handling errors and missed tackles were on display again. And Canada needed some stiff defence in the second half to keep the Americans at bay.
Tessier, Emily Tuttosi, Paige Farries, Olivia DeMerchant and Mikiela Nelson scored tries for Canada, which led 19-7 at the half at Waitakere Stadium. Captain Sophie de Goede kicked two conversions.
Alev Kelter and Kate Zackary scored tries for the U.S. Kelter booted two conversions.
The top two teams in each of the three pools plus the two best third-place finishers move into the quarter-finals at the 12-country tournament. Other results before the Canada match meant the U.S. was also guaranteed of moving on.
The Americans, who dropped one place to No. 7 in this week's rankings, downed Japan 30-17 after losing 22-10 to Italy.
The top two teams in each of the three pools plus the two best third-place finishers advance to the quarter-finals of the 12-team tournament.
Earlier Saturday, Italy had to work hard to beat Japan 21-8 with an 80th-minute converted try padding the Italian lead. Italy also moves on to the knockout round.
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