PARIS -- Emily Scarratt scored 16 points, including a crucial late try, as England defeated Canada 21-9 Sunday in the final of the women's rugby World Cup.
After England dominated in the first half, Canada closed to within two points on a Magali Harvey penalty halfway through the second.
But Scarratt kicked a penalty of her own a minute later, then capped the scoring with a try six minutes from the end regulation.
Harvey had all of Canada's points on three penalties and finished the tournament with 61 points, second only to Scarratt's 70.
It was Canada's first appearance in the World Cup final, while England won its second title after finishing runner-up to New Zealand in the last three tournaments.
Harvey was named the IRB women's player of the year after the game. Canadian captain Kelly Russell was also a finalist for the award.
Harvey and Russell were two of the five Canadian players who were on the team that lost to New Zealand in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens final.
Canada fought to a 13-13 draw with England during the group stage, but it looked like a different English side in the first half of Sunday's final. They keyed in on Harvey and prevented her from making a game-breaking run as she did in Canada's semifinal win over host France.
On offence, England used their size to exert all sorts of pressure, making several dangerous advances into Canadian territory.
Scarratt opened the scoring with a penalty 11 minutes into the match. England drew the penalty after an impressive break from Natasha Hunt, who used her speed to run down the middle deep into the Canadian zone.
England could have come away with more early on, but Canada's defence held firm with some solid tackling.
Canada was spared a try when Hunt was tackled near the touch-line. An official review declared Hunt had not moved the ball into touch when she was brought down by Andrea Burk.
England kept coming, and Scarratt kicked her second penalty of the game at the 25-minute mark to put England up 6-0.
Canada had trouble getting into England's zone and it proved costly when Danielle Waterman capped a series of crisp passes and scored the game's first try at the 33 minute mark. Scarratt missed the convert as England went up 11-0.
Canada finally started to get some momentum late in the half, and it paid off with a key penalty before the break when England was called for offside. Harvey converted the kick on the last play of the half to cut the deficit to 11-3.
Harvey started the second half with two long penalties, the second from 42 yards out, and Canada suddenly looked dangerous trailing just 11-9.
But that was as close as Canada would come. Scarratt responded with a penalty one minute later to restore England's advantage to five points.
Canada had some opportunities to close the gap, but Scarratt rescued her team when she scored a try with six minutes left in regulation, and added two points on a conversion.
Canada continued to press for their first try of the game as time ran out. While the Canadians were able to get deep into England's zone, the English did an excellent job of preventing any runs on the outside from getting through.
