New Zealand eliminates Canada from medal contention in men's rugby 7s

The Canadian men's rugby sevens team will not be competing for an Olympic medal following a 21-10 quarter-final loss to New Zealand at Tokyo Stadium on Tuesday.

New Zealand came out strong and pinned down Canada right away, backed by some offside penalties. Shortly thereafter, Andrew Knewstubb ran in the first try of the game and the All Blacks converted the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

A pair of tries from New Zealand co-captain Scott Curry gave the All Blacks a 21-0 lead heading into halftime.

To begin the second half, New Zealand kept up their pressure but  penalties hurt Canada and kept them from marching down the field. The All Blacks played a more conservative half as they tried to preserve their lead.

WATCH | Canadian men drop quarter-final to New Zealand:

Late tries from Pat Kay, of Duncan, B.C., and Vancouver's Harry Jones got Canada on the scoresheet, but they were unable to complete the comeback.

Canada opened the Olympic tournament with losses to Britain and Fiji on Monday before downing host Japan 36-12 early Tuesday.

Jones said despite losing three of their four matches in Tokyo, the Canadians showed what they can do with a couple of games under their belts.

"We started slow against Great Britain. Maybe didn't get as many [preparation] games as we wanted to, but [we] don't use that as an excuse," Jones said. "We got a bit better in the Fiji game. Really felt like we could have won that or at least tied. That would have changed things up quite a bit.

"Look, to bounce back against Japan on Day 2 like that — home team, they're fired up — really proud of the effort from the boys and that's what got us through the quarter-finals."

Canada will now move on to play in the placement games on Wednesday in Tokyo.

In other matches Tuesday:

• Argentina upset 2016 bronze medallist South Africa in the quarter-finals.
• 2016 silver medallists Britain rallied from a 21-point deficit to edge the United States after losing to Fiji earlier in the day.
• Defending champion Fiji capped Day 2 of competition with a 19-0 win over Australia to continue its unbeaten run in Olympic competition since rugby sevens made its 2016 debut in Rio.