Canada's women's rugby sevens team earns silver after loss to New Zealand

Canada has taken silver in women's rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics after losing 19-12 to New Zealand in the championship game Tuesday.

Risi Pouri-Lane opened the scoring for top-ranked New Zealand with a try and a successful conversion, but Canada replied before the end of the half.

Chloe Daniels had a try and conversion of her own, and Alysha Corrigan stole the ball and found a gap to run it in for a touch that put the Canadians up 12-7 at the break.

New Zealand responded in the second half with tries from Michaela Blyde and Stacey Waaka and a conversion from Tyla King.

The defending Olympic champions smothered the Canadians in the second half, refusing to allow them to create anything offensively.

Canada finished second in their pool behind New Zealand, who went undefeated across the tournament.

The Canadians beat host France in the quarterfinals before downing favoured Australia 21-12 in the semifinals earlier on Tuesday.

It was a day of disappointment for the Aussies, who went on to lose the bronze medal to the United States when the Americans scored a last-second try and booted a successful conversion for a 14-12 victory.

Canada's previous best finish in rugby sevens was bronze at the Rio Games where the discipline debuted in 2016.