Canadians beat Russia 28-17 to place third at Atlanta Sevens

ATLANTA – Canada’s women’s sevens team captured third place at the Atlanta Sevens on Sunday after a 28-17 win over Russia.

This is Canada’s sixth-straight third place finish at a world rugby women’s sevens series and the tenth-straight tournament the country has finished in the top four.

Earlier in the day Canada beat France 24-12 to advance to the Cup semifinals, where they lost to series leaders New Zealand 24-22.

“I was really proud of the way we responded as a group,” said Canadian head coach John Tait. “We had an honest look at the way we performed on day one and made a commitment to be better as a team today.

“I was especially pleased with the way we came out and attacked New Zealand in the Cup semifinals. Hard to lose a close one, but they just got that extra possession on us and we missed a couple of tackles against two world-class finishers.”

With their third place finish, the Canadians earned 16 points to move into a tie with Australia for second place in the overall series standings. The top four teams at the end of the season will automatically qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.