Canada kicks off pool play on Day 1 of the Cape Town Sevens

Canada’s Women’s and Men’s Sevens Teams opened pool play in Cape Town on Friday, a milestone 50th women’s tournament for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

Facing France, the 2022 Sevens Series women’s runners-up and 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens bronze medallists, in the first match of the day, Canada’s women’s team came away with a 19-19 draw.

Krissy Scurfield, Keyara Wardley and Bianca Farella scored three tries in a row in the first half, with successful conversions on the Scurfield and Farella tries from Olivia Apps. Down 19-0 heading into the second half, France made a comeback to tie the game with three tries and two conversions of their own.

Next up for Canada’s women’s team was the USA, who Canada also faced in pool play last week in Dubai. The Americans struck early with a try in the first minute of play. Canada responded with a try from Farella—one of just four players in Cape Town who played in the first ever women’s Sevens Series tournament in 2012—who capitalized on a bounce off a failed USA pass.

Apps added a conversion to help Canada tie the game. The Canadians pushed hard to take the lead, but with a series of missed tackles allowed three more tries from the Americans, with the final score coming to 24-7.

Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team opened pool play against hosts South Africa, getting on the board first with a try from Alex Russell off a pass from Thomas Isherwood in the fifth minute of play. A conversion from Brock Webster gave Canada the 7-0 lead. Despite South Africa scoring a try in the seventh minute, Canada still led 7-5 at the end of the first half. The score remained the same until the final minutes, with South Africa scoring two tries and a conversion to secure a 17-7 win.

Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team will conclude pool play on Saturday December 10 at 1:57 a.m. PT / 4:57 a.m. ET against Japan. Pool play will also continue for Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team on Saturday with matches against France at 12:57 a.m. PT / 3:57 a.m. ET and Fiji at 6:38 a.m. PT / 9:38 a.m. ET.

Broadcast coverage of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series is available in Canada via CBC. All events are available to live stream via cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and the free CBC Gem streaming service.

For the latest scores, results and schedule, visit the official website: world.rugby/sevens-series.