by The final match didn’t end the way they wanted, but the Canadian women’s rugby team achieved its best result of the season on Sunday at the HSBC Canada Sevens tournament in Vancouver.
The women overcame a 10-point deficit to tie the game but then lost a last-ditch effort 22-17 to Fiji.
The loss left Canada in sixth place. The women’s previous best was eighth in Cape Town, South Africa.
“There are a lot of good things to take from this,” said Keyara Wardley of Vulcan, Alta., whose 12th-minute effort had the Canadian fans on their feet screaming.
Watch Fiji play Canada at the HSBC Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Vancouver.
Head coach Jack Hanratty said a few mistakes cost his team the win.
“We had the momentum, we just have to hang on to it,” Hanratty said.
The men, who were upset by Australia on Friday but failed to advance to the quarter-finals on point differential, lost 31-14 to South Africa in their only match on Sunday and finished they are in the final in 15th place.
“Not getting points is a big blow,” said captain Phil Berna.
The poor defeat was a blow to the men’s team who were 14th in the Sevens Rugby League final with 19 points and are fighting to avoid relegation.
Watch South Africa take on Canada in the HSBC Men’s World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Vancouver.
The New Zealand women won their fourth tournament in a row with a 19-12 win over Australia. The win also secured a spot for the Black Ferns in the Paris 2024 Olympics. The USA defeated France 19-7 for the bronze.
New Zealand led the women’s standings with 98 points, followed by Australia with 84, USA 82 and France 68.
New Zealand leads the men’s standings with 107 points, followed by Argentina and South Africa with 86, and Fiji with 84 points.
The top four men’s and women’s teams at the end of the season will automatically qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Against Fiji, co-captain Olivia Apps of Lindsay, Ont., scored a try and kicked a conversion. Montreal’s Bianca Farella scored Canada’s other try.
Farella is playing in her 44th sevens tournament, tying her with Australia’s Sharni Williams for most on the all-time list.
24 straight points in the win over Ireland
The ladies started the day with Fancy Bermudez scoring a pair of tries in a 24-12 win over Ireland.
The women fell behind 7-0 but responded with 24 straight points. The game changed when Ottawa prop Olivia De Couvreur delivered a scintillating strike early in the first half.
“That was a big monument piece,” said Bermudez. “It really got our energy back.”
Apps scored a try and kicked two conversions. Wardley also scored a try.
Watch Ireland play Canada at the HSBC Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Vancouver.
The result moved the Canadian women up two places in the overall standings to eighth with 26 points.
The season has been a learning experience for a team with 14 players making their international debut.
“We said we are very young and inexperienced,” Hanratty said. “We don’t want to rely on that line.
“We want to be recognized for our results. We learned a lot this week. Now it’s about consistency.”
Organizers say the three-day event attracted 66,736 fans. The crowds at BC Place were decked out in elaborate and colorful costumes. There were furry heads and bright wigs. Several pink pigs with floppy ears sat next to a flock of bees. A group of awe-inspiring snowmen presented a Canadian flag.
Victoria’s Lachlan Kratz scored a try and kicked two conversions in the men’s loss to South Africa. Jake Thiel of Abbotsford, BC added a try.
Both the men’s and women’s teams had a coasting journey during the tournament and the men probably deserved a better fate. The women benefited from a smaller field and a differential points system which worked in their favour.
This year’s competition was expanded to include 12 women’s teams competing at the same time as 16 men’s teams.
The Canadian women lost their opening games 28-7 to Ireland and 17-12 to the United States, then came back to beat Brazil 31-7.
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Watch Canada play Brazil in the HSBC Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Vancouver.
They finished with a 1-2 record in Pool C but moved on because of their points differential. The top two teams from the three women’s pools advanced to the quarter-finals, along with the top two third-placed teams.
The women then showed a determined effort in a 10-5 loss to New Zealand.
The men looked terrible when they lost 35-5 to Ireland in their opening match and played one of the best games of the tournament to beat Australia 29-12. They beat Chile 35-7 on Saturday morning.
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Watch Canada play Australia at the HSBC Men’s Rugby World Series Sevens stop in Vancouver.
Despite a 2-1 record, they failed to advance to the medal round. The top two teams of the four men’s pools moved on. The men’s point differential left them in third place.
They lost 19-14 to Spain in the ninth place quarter-final.
Interim men’s coach Sean White saw positives in his team’s performance.
Berna said the team is like a jigsaw puzzle that hasn’t been put together yet.
“We believe we have all the parts,” said the Vancouver native. “We just have to put it together on a consistent basis.”
In danger of relegation
The World Series is reducing the number of men’s core teams for the 2024 season from 16 to 12, to equalize and align the number of women’s teams with the structure of the Olympic competition.
The men must get enough points in the remaining three competitions to climb into 11th place or better and avoid playing in a relegation play-off.
“We don’t hide that there is a recession,” said White. “We are trying to put in the best performance for every game and see where we end up.”
