Michaela Blyde scored the winning try in the final of the Japan sevens.

A last-ditch try from Michaela Blyde gave the New Zealand women's sevens team the spoils at the Kitakyushu sevens in Japan.

Her try, in added time at the end of the second half, meant they beat Canada 17-14 in the decider and extended their lead in the World Sevens Series, which has two rounds remaining.

Blyde crossed over at the end of a frantic passage of play, which was only possible after Canada had fumbled a kickoff when up 14-12, with only seconds remaining.

GETTY IMAGES Niall Williams sets the New Zealand backline alight at Kitakyushu.

The Canadians struck first, midway through the first half when Hannah Darling broke down the left and recovered from an ankle tap that brought her down to stumble over the line, though her grounding of the ball was less than convincing.

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The conversion from Ghislaine Landry made it 7-0, but New Zealand were able to strike back before halftime, when Niall Williams pounced on a loose ball then ran in under the posts in added time, with Tyla Nathan-Wong making it 7-7.

A nice passing move between Landry and Jen Kish then led to Kish dotting down in the right-hand corner, and Landry slotted a big kick from wide out to make it 14-7 to Canada.

Portia Woodman then produced a piece of individual brilliance, speeding past three defenders down the right flank to score her seventh try of the tournament and make it 14-12, but Nathan-Wong pushed her conversion wide.

Canada knocked on from the restart, however, and New Zealand were left with less than a minute to find a winner, and so Blyde did.

Woodman was later named player of the final.

Earlier, the first half of New Zealand's 21-0 semifinal win over Fiji was a grind, but they were able to take the lead just over a minute before the halftime break, when Kelly Brazier dotted down under the posts.

Nathan-Wong then added the conversion, and so they took a 7-0 lead into the break.

Portia Woodman then added a second try straight from the kickoff, just as she had done in the quarterfinal win over England, beating several defenders as she sprinted down the left flank, and Nathan-Wong again slotted the extras.

Two tries down, Fiji had to force the issue, but soon conceded another, as Woodman pushed off her marker then blazed down the right flank.

Canada had it much easier in their semifinal, beating an injury-depleted Australia 33-0.

New Zealand beat England 21-5 in their quarterfinal, scoring from the kickoff when Woodman beat the defence with an inside swerve, then dashed home from well inside her half.

Nathan-Wong converted from in front, to make it 7-0. Blyde scored the second try, given a huge overlap on the right, with Nathan-Wong adding the extras to make it 14-0.

England scored a try to Abbie Brown on the tick of halftime, with the conversion from wide out hitting the crossbar.

The second half remained scoreless until 32 seconds remained, when Williams carved through the heart of the England defence.

The conversion completed the scoring.

In the playoff for third and fourth, Australia came from 12-0 down at halftime to beat Fiji 19-17.

New Zealand have a 10 point lead over Australia in the World Sevens Series, with two rounds to play, in Canada and France.