The Olympic Sevens has now been completed for yet another four years, as New Zealand picked apart a solid Canadian national side at the Stade de France this evening.
The match had plenty to live up to following the dramatics of the bronze medal match between Australia and the USA, but it did not disappoint.
At one stage the occasion looked like it was going to follow directly in the footsteps of the aforementioned match when the underdogs Canada took a strong and surprising lead over their counterparts. Unlike Australia, however, there was no shortage of air in the Black Ferns’ lungs, as they avoided the most almighty of chokes to go on and win the match 19-12.
Two wonderful tries by the electric Michaela Blyde and the charismatic Stacey Waaka secured the championship for the women in black. This concluded 12 consecutive Olympic match wins following their previous success in Tokyo just three years ago.
Early during the finals evening, South Africa beat the incredibly underwhelming Fiji to secure 11th place, whilst Japan comfortably saw off Brazil to take 9th.
Local rivals Great Britain and Ireland fought over 7th place, with GB taking the spoils, and hosts France secured 5th place against the impressive Chinese squad.
Olympic Sevens final results
11/12 place playoff: South Africa 21-15 Fiji
9/10 place playoff: Japan 38-7 Brazil
7/8 place playoff: Great Britain 28-12 Ireland
5/6 place playoff: China 7-21 France
Bronze medal playoff: United States 14-12 Australia
Gold medal final: New Zealand 19-12 Canada
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