The Amsterdam 7s will end in thrilling fashion, but it won’t be the final to which everyone turns. Australia and Canada, having won their respective Cup semifinals against England and the USA, will compete for the trophy, but both teams have already secured their berths to the Olympics. The third-place match between the Roses and the Eagles will determine who books their tickets to Rio today.

The USA, for the second week in a row, fell just short of Canada in the semifinals. Canada’s defense decided the game, as the North Americans flew up quickly to prevent the pass out wide, and was aggressive in tight to force a lot of contact. But the USA handled the pressure well, didn’t turn over the ball in breakdowns, passed out of contact, and sent some skip passes over fast-rushing defenders to give Lauren Doyle and Kristen Thomas some room to run - just not as much as usual.

Karen Paquin, a prop, really showcased her speed and both USA flyers on a couple of breaks, and series points leader Ghislaine Landry was invaluable. She posted the game’s first try, as USA captain Kelly Griffin was trying to move the ball to space and out of the Eagles’ end. Landry read the pass to Bui Baravilala perfectly and snatched it out of the air for the easy try. She converted her score for the 7-0 lead.

The USA answered with a solid series back down the field. Although drawn into contact, the Eagles did a good job of keeping the ball alive and finding half-gaps through which to commit multiple defenders. The ball worked out to Doyle, who dummy-passed to no one, but also bought enough time for Megan Bonny to come around the corner for the pass out of the tackle. The prop scored and Baravilala made an excellent conversion to tie it up, 7-7.

With little time left on the clock, Canada earned a scrum in the USA’s end. Flyhalf Landry sent a cross-field kick as the buzzer sounded, and it trickled into open space as Thomas and Magali Harvey chased it down. Thomas got to the ball first but didn’t secure it, so Harvey scooped it up for the easy score and 12-7 lead into the break.

Paquin started off the second half with a long breakaway, but Thomas had the wheels to push the Canadian into touch. It was deemed a high tackle, so Canada kept the ball. After a few phases, Ashley Steacy sliced through the line, hit Sara Kaljuvi, who basketball-passed over Alev Kelter to Paquin, who emphatically grounded the ball for the score. Landry’s conversion made it 19-7.

Canada then got into penalty trouble. Three consecutive penalties at the breakdown saw a yellow card drawn, and Landry was the unfortunate recipient after an offsides call. The USA made the best of the extra space – which is exacerbated when Landry is the one missing from the pitch – and sent Doyle nearly to the line. It was Paquin, again, who halted the score. But a fourth penalty allowed the Eagles to make proper use of the one-man advantage, and after a couple of attempts at the line, the ball moved wide to Katie Johnson for the try. Baravilala slotted the extras, 19-14.

There was 1:35 remaining when the USA restarted the ball. The Eagles did well to drive Kayla Moleschi into touch and turn over the ball, but the stoppage in play also saw Landry return to the pitch for the final minute. And, boy, did she make her presence felt.

The ball worked wide to Doyle, who took a couple of chances at the line before finally breaking through. The team-leading try scorer looked well on her way to tying up the match, and thoughts soon turned to how close to center Doyle could ground the ball. And that’s when Landry closed the gap for the pursuit tackle, and a quick swarming defense eventually produced a turnover and penalty kick to touch. The game ended with a lineout and kick to touch, but it was very close to finishing with a USA try, possible conversion, and trip to Rio.

Instead, we’ll see who wants the third-place match more, England or USA. If the USA wins, then they head to the Olympics, but if England wins, then the pair will be tied on standings points and a tiebreaker will be employed. That game kicks off at 11:04 a.m. ET.