Canada's senior women's rugby squad fell to France 23-8 at the women's World Cup Saturday in Guildford, England, just southwest of London.
France played well as they opened the scoring with an unconverted try by centre Lucille Godiveau, but Canada answered back five minutes later when Anna Schnell kicked a penalty to make it 5-3.
After France went up 13-3 courtesy a penalty kicked by Aureile Bailon and a try from Cyrielle Bouisset, Canada tacked on five points when they opted for a scrum penalty and number Kelly Russell rumbled over to close the gap to five points.
But France added two more tries to clinch the match.
The best Canada can now finish is fifth, after finishing fourth the three pevious World Cups.
Canada next plays Scotland Wednesday in a fifth-place semifinal.
