Canada has ended New Zealand's decade of dominance at the Women's Rugby World Cup — conjuring a 34-19 victory over the Black Ferns to reach the final and inflict a first defeat in the tournament on the double-defending champions since 2014.
Justine Pelletier, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Florence Symonds, and Sophie de Goede crossed for Canada in a stunning first-half performance, and Alex Tessier added another try after the break to extend what was already a healthy lead.
Six-time champions New Zealand produced a spirited fightback in the second half but could not prevent the Canadians reaching their second World Cup final after losing to England 11 years ago.
It was New Zealand's first World Cup semifinal defeat since 1991, with Canada now eagerly awaiting the winners of Sunday morning's second semifinal between England and France for the decider at Twickenham in a week's time.
"I'm excited already," said Canada coach Kevin Rouet. "I said to the girls to stop crying because we have a job to do in eight days. That's the mindset. We need to finish the job and be ready in eight days."
Ranked second in the world and one place above New Zealand, Canada was hardly underdogs, but its opponent's record spoke for itself, and when it came to the hardened business of winning World Cup semifinals, the southern hemisphere team is in a different league.
This was its eighth semifinal, and it had won the previous six, while Canada, by contrast, had lost all but one of its previous five last-four encounters.
The Canucks are an amateur side that launched a successful one million Canadian dollars ($1.1 million) fundraising drive in March — titled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup — to crowdfund their tournament.
If the Canadians were intimidated by the Kiwis' World Cup pedigree, they certainly did not show it as they took the match by the scruff of the neck with a devastating first-half display.
They scored their first try in the eighth minute when Alysha Corrigan played it inside to Pelletier, who sold a dummy, jinked back, and touched down.
Three minutes later, there was clear daylight between the sides as a long pass out to the wing found Hogan-Rochester, who shrugged off the tackle of New Zealand fullback Renee Holmes and crossed in the corner.
Canada extended its lead again in the 24th minute, laying siege to the New Zealand line, before the ball was thrown wide for Symonds to cross.
That seemed to jolt the Black Ferns awake, and their first period of pressure ended with Tanya Kalounivale picking the ball up and bundling over from close range to reduce the deficit.
Yet seemingly stung by their opponents' riposte, the Canadians crossed again before the break as Pelletier fed De Goede inside, and she galloped over from 25 metres out and added the extras to send her side in 24-7 up at the break.
Three minutes after the restart, Canada put its foot back on the throttle with a fifth try, as Tessier cut back and slid over, after an attack down the left was held up.
The contest, however, was reignited when Liana Mikaele-Tu'u drove over the line after a spell of New Zealand pressure, and when Sorensen-McGee collected Ruahei Demant's chip kick to the corner and touched down to reduce the deficit to 31-19 with 15 minutes remaining, it was game on.
It was swiftly game over, however, as a De Goede penalty calmed Canadian jitters, putting them more than two converted tries clear, a lead they were never going to relinquish.
"They were exceptional and it will be a great final," said New Zealand captain Kennedy Tukuafu.
"I think how far the women's game has come, it's pretty special to be part of this legacy, to see how big this tournament's been, the biggest there's ever been, so we can be proud of contributing to that."
Reuters/ABC
