Canadian women defeat Australia to win Clermont-Ferrand Sevens

Canada finished the Women's Sevens Series on a high point Sunday, upsetting Australia 29-19 to capture the cup at the Clermont-Ferrand Sevens.

With captain Jen Kish injured, Ghislaine Landry hoisted the trophy in the final stop of the five-event circuit. Canada's Kelly Russell was named player of the final.

Next up for the Canadian women is Rio and the Summer Olympics.

Australia, which won stops in Dubai, Sao Paulo and Atlanta before finishing third in Langford, B.C., finished first in the overall season standings with 94 points. New Zealand was second with 80 and Canada moved into third on 74 points, edging England on points difference.

New Zealand dispatched England 22-5 to finish third in Clermont. France defeated the U.S. 22-19 to win the Plate and finish fifth.

Landry, Russell, Britt Benn and Magali Harvey scored as Canada led Australia 26-7 at the half. Benn, sporting stitches after being cut Saturday, also made a try-saving tackle. Landry added three conversions and a penalty for Canada.

Chloe Dalton, Elia Green and Emily Cherry scored for Australia.

With Landry in the sin bin midway through the second half, Cherry's converted try cut the lead to 26-19. But Landry, who scored seven tries during the weekend, added an insurance penalty to pad the lead to 10 points.

It was Canada's fifth win in 15 meeting with Australia. It was also the second Cup final this season for the Canadians, who were blanked 29-0 by Australia in February in the Sao Paulo championship game.

Earlier Sunday, the Canadian women downed Fiji in the Cup quarter-final 12-5 and England 31-10 in the semifinal.

Landry scored both tries against Fiji and added three more against England with singles coming from Bianca Farella and Karen Paquin.

Canada finished second in its pool Saturday, defeating Japan 21-15 and Russia 29-12 before losing 19-17 to New Zealand.