Canadian women’s rugby 7s team to play for 5th place, men close Vancouver tournament with loss | CBC Sports
Fancy Bermudez scored a pair of tries as the Canadian women defeated Ireland 24-12 Sunday to put themselves in position for their best result this season at the HSBC Canada Sevens tournament in Vancouver.
The women can place fifth in the tournament with a win over Fiji. Their previous best was eighth in Cape Town, South Africa.
The men, who staged an upset over Australia Friday but missed advancing to the quarterfinals due to a points differential, lost 31-14 to South Africa in their only game Sunday and finished in a tie for 15th place.
“It’s a bummer to not come away with points,” said captain Phil Berna.
Watch South Africa face Canada at the HSBC Men’s World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Vancouver.
The poor finish was a blow to a men’s team that came into the tournament sitting 14th in the World Rugby Sevens Series standings and fighting to avoid relegation
The women fell behind 7-0 against Ireland but responded with 24 straight points. The game turned when prop Olivia De Couvreur of Ottawa delivered a crunching hit early in the first half.
“That was a bit monument piece,” said Bermudez. “It really got our energy back up after having a couple unforced errors. We just took that and ran with it.”
Co-captain Olivia Apps of Lindsay, Ont., scored a try and kicked two converts. Keyara Wardley of Vulcan, Alta., also scored a try.
The Canadian women entered the tournament with 16 points and ranked 10th after four stops on their tour.
Watch Ireland play Canada at the HSBC Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Vancouver.
Canada’s women will face Fiji in the fifth-place play-off at 7:25 p.m. ET.
New Zealand takes on Australia in the women’s Cup final at 8:56 p.m. ET, while Argentina will play France in the men’s Cup final at 9:26 p.m. ET.
Watch live coverage of the men’s and women’s tournaments on cbcsports.ca, CBC Gem and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android.
Taking you inside the Canadian women’s victory huddle here at BC Place. <br><br>A confident squad after a solid win over Ireland. <br><br>One last game at 4:25pm PT on <a href=”https://twitter.com/cbcsports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@cbcsports</a> <a href=”https://t.co/61IPGRXBqi”>pic.twitter.com/61IPGRXBqi</a>
—@Devin_Heroux
Fans at BC Place were decked out in elaborate and colourful costumes. There were furry onesies and bright wigs. Some pink pigs with floppy ears sat near a flock of bees. A group of abominable snowmen waved a Canadian flag.
There were sailors, pirates, construction workers, and a group in orange prison suits watched over by police in sunglasses.
Lachlan Kratz of Victoria scored a try and kicked two converts in the men’s loss to South Africa. Jake Thiel of Abbotsford, B.C., added a try.
Both teams had a roller-coaster ride during the tournament but the men probably deserved a better fate. The women took advantage of a smaller field and a points differential system that worked in their favour.
This year the tournament was expanded to include a full slate of 12 women’s teams competing at the same time as the 16 men’s teams.
The Canadian women lost their opening games 28-7 Ireland and 17-12 to the U.S, then rebounded to beat Brazil 31-7.
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Watch Canada play Brazil at 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 point differential. The top two teams from the three women’s pools advanced to the quarterfinals, along with the two best third-place teams.
The women then showed a determined effort in a 10-5 loss to New Zealand, one of the best teams in the world.
The men looked terrible in a 35-5 loss to Ireland in their opening game then played one of their best games of the tournament to beat Australia 29-12. They beat Chile 35-7 Saturday morning.
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Watch Canada play Australia at the HSBC Men’s World Rugby Sevens Series 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.
They lost 19-14 to Spain in the ninth-place quarterfinal.
Men’s interim coach Sean White saw positives in his team’s performance.
“Our highs are really high right now and our lows are quite low. We’ve just got to find that even keel. I think we’ve shown what we’re capable of, it’s just about that repeat 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 sevens series is reducing the number of men’s core teams for the 2024 season from 16 to 12, to equal the number of women’s teams and align with the Olympic competition structure.
“We don’t hide from the fact there’s relegation,” said White. “But by no means do we go in looking at how many points we need.
“We’re trying to put the best performance in for each game and see where we get to.”
The top four men’s and women’s teams at the end of the season will qualify automatically for the 2024 Paris Olympicsi
