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Canada secured the bronze medal with a hard-fought 21-19 victory over the United States in the third place playoff of the world championship series in Bordeaux, France on Sunday.
Williams scored twice to lead the Canadian attack, while Hogan-Rochester also crossed for a try. Hogan-Rochester and Savannah Bauder added conversions as Canada held off a late U.S. push to seal a podium finish.
“We’re really proud,” said head coach Jocelyn Barrieau. “This is a group that chose to bounce back on day three, something we haven’t been able to do this year.
“It took hard work and a lot of detail. Credit goes to all the players who took on the last part of our framing year to put us in a place to grow and look forward to what we are calling our `finishing’ year next season.”
Earlier on Sunday, the Canadian squad lost a tight semifinal to New Zealand in the Cup semifinals.
Canada jumped out to a 10-0 lead with tries from Charity Williams and Savannah Bauder. New Zealand answered with two tries and a conversion to take a 12-10 advantage into halftime.
Canada regained the lead early in the second half when Williams scored her second try of the match. Asia Hogan-Rochester added the conversion to make it 17-12.
“The team got together when we came off the field and our captain, Florence [Symonds], gathered everyone and said, `We’re going to get through this because we have each other’s backs and we’re going to move forward together,'” Barrieau said.
“It was just an amazing display of leadership from her.”
New Zealand responded with a converted try of its own to pull ahead and secure a 19-17 victory.
New Zealand faced Australia in the final, with Australia taking the victory 26-19.
Canada finished pool play with a 2-1 record, scoring wins over Spain (14-12) and Great Britain (35-14), capped off by a 33-22 loss to the U.S.
The Canadian women — the 2024 Olympic silver medallists — also finished fourth at the opening stop in Hong Kong in April. Countries’ results across the three events determine the world champions.
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