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Canada captures bronze in women's rugby sevens

Canada's Charity Williams, right, jumps into the arms of Hannah Darling as they win bronze defeating Great Britain's in women's rugby sevens at the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Ghislaine Landry had 18 points as Canada defeated Britain 33-10 to capture the bronze medal in the inaugural Olympic women's rugby sevens event.

Landry had two tries and four conversions for the Canadians, who avenged a 22-0 loss to Britain in their final preliminary round game.

Karen Paquin, Bianca Farella and Kelly Russell had the other tries for Canada, which took a commanding 26-5 half-time advantage. The Canadians also earned a successful finish to the tournament after dropping a 17-5 semifinal decision to Australia early Monday.

Top-seeded Australia, the tournament favourite, defeated No. 2 New Zealand 24-17 in the gold medal match. New Zealand beat Britain 25-7 in its semifinal.

Britain cut Canada's lead to 26-10 with Jasmine Joyce's second-half try but Landry cemented the victory with a try and conversion to put Canada back ahead 33-10.

The Canadians came into the semifinal on the heels of a 15-5 quarter-final victory over France and a 2-1-0 pool record that included easy wins over Japan and Brazil and an error-filled loss to Britain.

Canada came into the tournament as a medal contender after winning last summer's Pan American Games and finishing third on the world circuit this season. The Canadians were second in the World Series in 2014-15.

Women's rugby is making its Olympic debut, while men's rugby returns for the first time since 1924 when the U.S. won the 15-a-side tournament.