The Canadians beat rivals the United States 21-17 in the final to claim their third tournament win in front of a sold out Allianz Stadium.

The US, who finished the last tournament in Dubai in 11th place, shocked New Zealand to reach the final while Canada silenced the crowd when they beat Australia 12-7 in the second semi-final of the day.

Naya Tapper opened the scoring for the US in the gold medal contest, before Brittany Benn hit back to level.

Charity Williams then gave Canada the lead after she converted a try under the posts before the break.

In the second half, Canada exerted their dominance and despite another try from Tapper, it was a converted Bianca Farella that handed them the trophy.

"The US had a great tournament so we knew they were going to show up for that game,” said Canadian Captain Ghislaine Landry.

“We worked hard for the win.

“Defence won us that game - we slipped off a little bit at times - but I'm super proud of the girls."

Meanwhile, on a day of shock results, Brazil beat England 17-12 to claim the Challenge Trophy as New Zealand went on to beat their rivals Australia to claim the bronze medal.

The men's competition in Sydney began today as hosts Australia successfully made it through to the quarter-finals after a thrilling day of action which saw England, Wales and New Zealand all remain unbeaten.

Wales await Australia in the next round in just their second quarter-final of the series.

The Welsh team topped Pool B and ended a 14-match losing streak against Fiji in the process, thanks to an emphatic hat-trick from Welsh wizard Morgan Williams.

England, Cape Town winners, took three wins from three in Pool A, with Dan Norton becoming the second highest try scorer of all-time when he surpassed Santiago Gomez-Cora's record of 230 tries.

They will face Argentina in the Cup quarter-finals on day two of the men's event.

Scott Waldrom's New Zealand side will play Fiji after they managed three victories against Australia, Scotland and Papua New Guinea and the US will meet South Africa, the Blitzboks having lost their first Pool match since Hong Kong in April last year.

Meanwhile, Kenya will play Russia, Scotland face Samoa, Canada meet Japan and France take on Papua New Guinea in the Challenge Trophy quarter-finals on Sunday.