Canadian women lose rugby sevens semifinal.

Canada’s national senior women’s rugby sevens team fell 22-12 to England in semifinal action at the IRB Sevens Challenge Cup in Hong Kong on Saturday.

The setback snapped Canada’s five-game tournament winning streak, stretching to the 2011 USA Sevens.

England led 12-5 at the break and 22-5 before a consolation try by Canada’s by Mandy Marchak.

“We fell off too many tackles in the first half which put a lot of pressure on ourselves to recover from,” Canadian coach John Tait said. “There was no lack of effort from the team, but we weren’t accurate with our passing or contact skills and a quality side like England makes you pay for that.”

England, which later Saturday won the title with a 15-10 win over world champion Australia, will meet Canada again at the London Sevens in May.

Meanwhile, the Canadian men roared to a 10-0 lead en route to a 10-7 victory over Spain on the second day of the Hong Kong Sevens.

Canada, which tops the Pool E table with two wins and a draw, will meet Russia in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

“A pleasing end to the day after a disappointing start against Zimbabwe,” said Canada coach Geraint John. “Players showed far more energy and enjoyment with better skill level in the last game and we could have scored a couple more against a very good Spanish team who will be a test for anyone (Sunday).”

Canada fell 24-21 to Zimbabwe in its early game on Saturday.