The strong performance included a hat trick of tries for Woodman.
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Australia’s women beat New Zealand 24-17 to win the first ever Olympic rugby sevens gold medal, after Great Britain lost to Canada in the bronze match.
With the bronze victory, the Canadians avenged a 22-0 loss to Britain in their final preliminary round game and also earned a successful finish to the tournament after dropping a 17-5 semifinal decision to Australia early Monday.
“You just look at all the people here and this part of the world probably doesn’t see a lot of rugby”, the retired two-time Rugby World Cup victor told CNN before watching his country lose the final 24-17.
She crossed after just two minutes after a sweeping movement from one end of the field to the other, from sideline to sideline.
“I now have a chance to live out a dream that I thought had died”, she said before the Games. “It wasn’t intentional, it was just a mistake, just a reaction, the ball was there”. New Zealand, Britain, Kenya and Japan are in Pool C and the Fijians were drawn into Pool A with the United States, Argentina and Brazil.
Charlotte Caslick stood out for the Australians in the four-tries-to-three victory, scoring one and having a hand in Ellia Green’s second-half try.
The British advanced 26-7 over Fiji and then watched as semifinal opponent New Zealand struggled to put away the Americans 5-0 in the last of the quarterfinals.
From there it was New Zealand who had the better of the play, but left their run too late.
Canada’s women’s rugby sevens team will play for an Olympic bronze medal.
The Gold Medal Match will be played at 19.00 local time Monday evening. “But obviously the Olympics is the pinnacle of all sports, so it’s a huge honor”. “We’re in the black jersey wherever we are”.
Masse, from La Salle, Ont., added to Canada’s fortunes in the pool by finishing tied for third in the women’s 100-metre backstroke.
During the medal ceremony the Kiwis received a massive cheer from their supporters in the stands, including members of the Woodman whanau who had travelled from Northland.
It wasn’t to be, with the Fijian women losing to Britain on Sunday night and leaving it to coach Ryan and his sevens world series champions to make history in Rio de Janeiro.
She was not finished with the Olympics.
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“It feels wonderful representing my country”, the 30-year-old said after Monday’s semifinal win over England.
