England secure Team GB quota for Rio 2016 as Canada claim Amsterdam Sevens title

England's women secured a Rio 206 quota spot with a pulsating win over the United States in Amsterdam ©World Rugby/Martin Seras Lima

England’s women secured a quota place for Great Britain at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with a dramatic 15-14 win over the United States on the final day of the Sevens World Series in Amsterdam.

In what was essentially an Olympic play-off, the thrilling contest went down to the wire as Jo Watmore’s converted try late on gave England a crucial advantage.

The Americans did hit back through Alev Kelter but it proved to be too little too late as the English side ensured they finished in the all-important fourth place on the Series leaderboard.

“It's the dream isn't it,” England captain Abi Chamberlain said.

“It's probably been one of the best, and hardest, years of my life.

“We've worked our backsides off to be in this position and we did it.

“All credit to USA because they were fighting right down to the end.”

Canada also enjoyed a momentous day as they clinched their first-ever Sevens World Series crown with a narrow 20-17 win over Australia.

Both teams had claimed their place at Rio 2016 yesterday.

The final itself was representative of a fascinating event in The Netherlands as two tries from Australian Emma Tonegato put her side on the front foot, but Canada kept pace with their opponents as both Karen Paquin and Magali Harvey touched down.

That set up a tense finale and right at the death, Ghislaine Landry scored what proved to be the winning try which sent the Canadians into raptures.

Image title — Canada claimed their first-ever Sevens World Series title with victory over Australia in the final ©World Rugby/Martin Seras Lima

New Zealand will also take part at next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and they sealed the overall title earlier on at an entertaining Amsterdam Sevens event, before they finally got their hands on the trophy today.

They did, however, suffer disappointment following a defeat to England at the quarter-final stage but they recovered to finish the competition on a high by winning the plate final against France.

Following an excellent success over the Series champions, the English team could not quite replicate their performance level in their last four clash with Australia as they were on the wrong end of a 26-0 hammering.

The other semi-final saw Canada take on an American side who have enjoyed a rapid rise in improvement throughout the Series.

But it was the Canadians who booked their place in the final with a tight 19-14 victory.

But it was England’s contest with the United States that provided the highest drama as Chamberlain’s team squeezed through to earn Team GB a quota spot at Rio 2016, where rugby sevens will be making its debut on the Olympic programme.