The top-rated teams all made it to the Women's Rugby World Cup semifinals, and, as expected, France-vs-Ireland was easily the closest match of the weekend.
Here's what happened in the quarterfinals:
Canada Downs Australia
Canada were hugely impressive in beating Australia 46-5 at Ashton Gate on Saturday.
Canada's Asia Hogan-Rochester and Australia's Desiree Miller traded tries in the first ten minutes, but from then on Canada put on a show for those in attendance as Alysha Corrigan scored two while Sophie de Goede and McKinley Hunt also crossed the line. The Wallaroos were able to stem the tide somewhat in the second half, but Fabiola Forteza and Karen Paquin both added tries and Alex Tessier slotted a penalty to put the finishing touches on a statement performance in Bristol.
Sophie de Goede was awarded the Mastercard Player of the Match after scoring a try and adding eight further points with her boot.
"You could have given this Player of the Match to so many players out there and to the impact subs that came on and finished the game incredibly," she said. "I think that's what makes us a great team and hopefully you can continue to see that throughout the tournament.
"We were excited to be in the semis last time and I feel like we are just rolling and we've checked off every job we have wanted to do so far. Real credit to Australia, it was a tough game. I'm just really happy we were able to come through that one and we look forward to the semis."
In addition to her scoring, de Goede got the grunt work done. Her 78 metres made with ball in hand was the most out of any player.
"I am very happy," said Canada Head Coach Kevin Rouet. "Our first half was a very good rugby game for us. We pushed the game away from Australia and after that we managed the second half, so I'm very happy with the performance."
Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp was gracious in defeat, saying her side were second best on the day.
"We were beaten by a better team," she said. "Canada came out and we knew that if we allowed them to get quick ball, we know exactly what they're capable of, and that's exactly what we saw in that first half, so credit to them. We came out the second half and threw at it what we could. We had a put more ball and tried to stop that line speed but the game was already lost."
Canada will face New Zealand, who beat South Africa 46-17.
Black Ferns Roll
Kaipo Olsen-Baker was named Mastercard Player of the Match, playing in her first game since the opener because she was hampered by injury.
"It's definitely not the World Cup I hoped for, but I'm super grateful for the med team, the girls, and all my family back home," Olsen-Baker said. "Without their support I wouldn't have been able to come back. I wouldn't have been able to score those two tries today without the girls. We're such a tight-knit group and knows how everyone plays."
South Africa has emerged as the most improved program this World Cup and they were dynamic. They also unleashed a 15-player lineout, which turned some heads.
“I knew South Africa were going to bring out something different, but I didn’t think they were going to bring out that, which was insane," said Olsen-Baker.
"We got a bit of a ruck-up in the sheds, particularly us backs," said captain Ruahei Demant. "Our accuracy wasn't good enough and it wasn't the standards that this jersey demands. We knew that we were going into the wind [in the second half] allowed us to play a high-possession game, which a lot of us love, was the message that was given to us from our coaches and I'm really proud that we took that message and enforced it in the second half."
Canada will be a tough out, and this is certainly a pick 'em game.
"They're a really good side," said Demant. "They're [ranked] number two for a reason. We played them this year at home in Christchurch and the game ended in a draw, so we know that we will have not a lot of room for ever. We won't have a lot of room for error; our performance will need to be bang-on."
