Scotland will face England in the World Cup quarter-finals after they went down fighting in a 40-19 loss to Canada at Exeter's Sandy Park.
The battle to finish top of Pool B was close until Canada, placed second in the global rankings and among the tournament favourites, pulled away heading into the final quarter.
Both teams had already qualified for the knockout phase with the outcome in Devon determining who would avoid all-conquering England, who defeated Australia in their final group game later on Saturday.
Scotland were persistent in their pursuit of an upset and produced some eye-catching moments, but they were frequently overpowered up front and also struggled to cope with their opponents’ speed of ball.
For a period of the first half they matched the favourites blow for blow with their 22nd-minute try by Rhona Lloyd – only the second Canada had conceded in the group stage – straight out of the top drawer.
It came after a lengthy spell of battering down the door and the reward came when Lisa Thomson and Rachel McLachlan skilfully kept the ball alive for Chloe Rollie to send Lloyd over.
Canada’s lead, established when McKinley Hunt went over in the 12th minute, was reduced to 7-5 but they cantered into the distance by taking advantage of the yellow card shown to Evie Gallagher for a foul on the line.
First they were awarded a penalty try on the strength of a dominant scrum that was illegally halted just short of the line and then Emily Tuttosi touched down as gaps opened up, with Scotland struggling to deal with the speed of the attack.
Trailing 19-5, Scotland again built pressure on the opposition 22 and they were over when Helen Nelson made yards before Gallagher ran an out to in line that swept her across the whitewash.
But the good work was soon undone when Tuttosi marauded over from a line-out with help from a weak tackle by second row by Sarah Bonar.
Nelson had a try disallowed for offside, a key moment as shortly after Canada’s pack flexed their muscles in a try for replacement prop Brittany Kassil.
Francesca McGhie and Olivia DeMerchant then exchanged late tries.
Elsewhere, the United States scored 10 unanswered tries as they romped to a 60-0 win over Samoa, but it wasn't enough to advance to the quarter-finals.
Freda Tafuna scored four tries, with two for Hope Rogers and one each for Cassidy Bargell, Erica Coulibaly, Erica Jarrell-Searcy and Olivia Ortiz at the York Community Stadium as the Americans picked up a key bonus point for a Pool A total of eight.
Samoa depart the tournament with only three points, a penalty kicked over by Harmony Vatau to rapturous applause against England at Northampton last weekend.
USA break through the 50 point barrier against Samoa as Freda Tafuna goes over for her fourth try of the match. pic.twitter.com/8CfviehGZ7
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 6, 2025
Wales ended a bitterly disappointing World Cup by failing to win a single game as they crashed to a 28-25 defeat by Fiji in a thriller at Exeter's Sandy Park.
Sean Lynn's side fought back from a 28-10 deficit to take a nerve-jangling Pool B showdown to the final whistle.
The final seconds saw both sides feverishly compete for the ball on the floor close to Fiji's posts, but the Islanders clung to consign Wales to a bottom place finish in their group.
Wales were fighting to the end with Carys Cox at the forefront of their second-half resurgence and Lisa Neumann rounded of a stirring passage of play by diving over.
A shot at posts was turned down as Wales needed a try to win and they threw the kitchen sink at a rapidly tiring Fiji, but the crucial score eluded them.
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Additional reporting: Reuters
