Australia’s women have fallen short of a final berth at the Sydney rugby sevens, with the Olympic champions beaten by Canada in their semi-final.
Australia were overpowered 12-7 by the visitors, who came back from a try down to set up a decider with the United States on Saturday.
Speedster Ellia Green gave Australia an early advantage in the semi-final at Allianz Stadium, racing down the touchline for the opening five-pointer.
Canada hit back with Jennifer Kish scoring an uncoverted try.
The hosts lost their advantage just before half time, with Canada’s Brittany Bell busting two tackles to score for a 12-7 lead.
Australia tried hard for the match-winner in the second half, forcing several turnovers but being unable to breach the miserly Canadian defence.
“They are going to make mistakes. That’s life. You’re not going to win everything all the time,” Australian coach Tim Walsh said.
“We’d like to. But we’ve got to maintain that consistency and stay at the top.
“It’s not the end of the world. It’s a game we’ve lost. That’s going to happen. We need to build on that and make sure we’re continuing forward.”
Earlier, the Rio gold medal winners were given a heroes’ reception upon stepping onto Allianz Stadium.
They were supported by around 2,000 people in their quarter-final victory over Fiji, played on a training field outside the ground.
After being crowned Olympic champions last year, Australia have now failed to win either of the first two world series legs in 2016-17, losing to New Zealand in the Dubai final in December.
In the first semi-final, US powerhouse Leyla Alev Kelter scored two tries in their 19-12 victory over New Zealand.
Australia will now meet their trans-Tasman rivals in a third-place play-off.
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