Canada remained in the medal hunt in women’s rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics after beating France 19-14 in the quarter-finals on Monday.
Chloe Daniels scored the winning try with 53 seconds left in the second half and the Canadians held off a late French attack to secure a spot in the semi-finals.
Piper Logan scored two tries for Canada, while captain Olivia Apps added a conversion.
Daniels completed one of his two conversion attempts, his only miss coming on the winning try.
The Canadian victory calmed the noisy crowd of 69,000 at the Stade de France.
It’s really hard to describe. It’s incredible to play in front of this crowd, whether they’re with us or against us. It was really incredible to play tonight.
Piper Logan
“I feel very happy and privileged to be here. Winning a medal is a dream. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time.”
The Canadians had qualified for the quarterfinals by finishing the group stage with a 26-17 victory over China earlier Monday.
In the semi-finals on Tuesday, Canada will face Australia, which crushed Ireland 40-7 immediately after the Canadian victory.
“We won bronze in Rio and failed in Tokyo. But you saw the growth [de l’équipe] over the last few years and we’re here to win a medal,” Logan said.
New Zealand and the United States will meet in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
“Every game for us is a final and an opportunity to prove ourselves and do what we’ve done every day in practice for the last three and a half years,” said Charity Williams, who played for Canada in the 26-17 win over China.
“Obviously there were 60,000 people who were against us, but we like a little adversity and the underdogs sometimes win.”