Canada’s Women’s and Men’s teams begin Birmingham journey on Day 1 of Commonwealth Games Rugby 7s
Rugby 7s Senior Women, Rugby 7s Senior Men
How did the teams do on the opening day of action at Coventry Stadium?
Canada’s Senior Women’s and Men’s 7s teams got their 2022 Commonwealth Games campaigns underway on Friday as they played their opening Pool matches at Coventry Stadium.
Both teams finished the day with one win and one loss, meaning there’s plenty to play for when the competition resumes on Saturday morning. Here’s how events unfolded…
WOMEN’S MATCH 4 (POOL A): CANADA 7-45 NEW ZEALAND
First up, Jack Hanratty’s Women’s team got the action underway from a Canadian perspective. A second-half Chloe Daniels try and Olivia Apps conversion proved to be consolations as their Pool A opponents New Zealand claimed the victory thanks to scores from Michaela Blyde (2), Kelly Brazier, Portia Woodman, Stacey Fluhler, Alena Saili and Risi Pouri-Lane.
MEN’S MATCH 7 (POOL C): CANADA 31-0 WALES
On the Men’s side, Henry Paul’s team faced Wales in their opening Pool C match. A quick penalty from Alex Russell gave him the angle to bypass and outpace two Welsh defenders on the sideline before touching down in the corner to get Canada on the board. Cooper Coats scored their second thanks to a well-worked move which resulted in him cutting back to go over before Thiel made it three tries prior to half time.
After the break, quick hands from Thiel to feed Russell saw the No. 5 burst through for his second try of the match to make it 24 unanswered points. Down to six men after a yellow card, Wales struggled to cope with the Canadian pressure as Matthew Oworu, on his 22nd birthday, powered over the line to extend the lead and ensure the match finished 31-0.
WOMEN’S MATCH 8 (POOL A): CANADA 26-19 ENGLAND
Facing the host nation, England, in their second match of the day, the Women’s team went behind early as Ellie Boatman scored the opening try. Keyara Wardley responded for Canada as her penetrating run saw her break a tackle to carry the ball over and make it 7-5.
Debutant Piper Logan entered the field just before half time and threatened to make an immediate impact with her pace. It was Bianca Farella, though, who extended Canada’s lead twice either side of half time as she scored back-to-back tries, showing her speed and strength in both instances.
With four minutes remaining, a yellow card for England ensured Canada had a one-player overlap on the left which gave Krissy Scurfield all the space she needed to score. Grace Crompton and Heather Crowell pulled tries back for the hosts but Canada were able to see the game out and claim a 26-19 victory.
MEN’S MATCH 16 (POOL C): CANADA 12-19 FIJI
The first day’s final match saw Paul’s Men’s team take on Fiji, who took a first-half lead through Sevuloni Mocenacagi (2) and Josua Vakurunabili tries. Just before the break, an incredible field-length kick from Coats saw Canada work their way deep into Fiji’s half. They used quick hands from a lineout to get the ball out to Brock Webster on the wing who scored in the corner.
In the second half, Canada continued to apply pressure and defended well. They were awarded a penalty try when D’Shawn Bowen used his pace to get around the outside but was impeded by a high tackle, which also resulted in a one-man advantage for Canada for the last two minutes. Despite battling hard, the Canadians weren’t able to score a winning try as they fell 19-12.
On Saturday, the Women’s team begin with a clash against Sri Lanka at 4:44 a.m. Eastern / 1:44 a.m. Pacific before the Men’s team takes on Zambia at 7:40 a.m. Eastern / 4:40 a.m. Pacific. Watch all the games live on CBC Sports.