Canadian resiliency on display on final day of the Cape Town Sevens
Rugby 7s Senior Women, Rugby 7s Senior Men
The Cape Town Sevens came to a close on Sunday, with Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team finishing eighth, and Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team finishing fourteenth.
The Cape Town Sevens came to a close on Sunday, with Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team finishing eighth, and Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team finishing fourteenth.
With just eight available players on Day 3, Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team displayed their resiliency, requiring sudden death extra time in the fifth place semi finals against France. Having tied the French team to open pool play in Cape Town, it was another close match. Charity Williams and Olivia Apps generated offence for Canada in the first half, with Williams scoring two tries and Apps two conversions within the first four minutes of play.
A try and conversion from France in the sixth minute put the score at 14-7 for Canada at the break. With just one substitute available, Canada held off France until the thirteenth minute, when Yolaine Yengo secured seven points for France, tying the game and sending it to extra time. France was the first to score, winning 19-14.
Canada then faced Fiji in the seventh place play-off to finish the tournament. Down 12-0, Olivia De Couvreur pushed away two Fijian defenders and offloaded the ball to Olivia Apps, who scored both the try and the conversion to give Canada seven points going into the second half. With Fiji down a player due to a yellow card, rookie Shalaya Valenzuela scored her milestone first ever international try in the tenth minute to increase Canada’s points total to 12. Fiji closed out the game with tries in the twelfth minute and on the final play to take the 26-12 win.
Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team faced the second ranked Australia squad in the ninth place quarter finals, with Brock Webster leading the charge for Canada. Webster scored his first try of Day 3 in the sixth minute, followed up by a successful conversion, to give Canada a 7-5 lead. Australia responded with four tries, winning by a score of 33-7.
Facing Japan in the thirteenth place semi finals, Canada’s offence exploded, starting with another try from Webster in the first minute of play, followed immediately after by a try from Lockie Kratz. Japan tied the game with tries in the sixth and ninth minutes, but Canada responded with three more scores, two from Josiah Morra and one from Matt Oworu. With three successful conversions from Webster, Canada won 31-14 to prolong their campaign in Cape Town.
Canada’s final match in South Africa was the thirteenth place play-off versus Kenya. Anton Ngongo got things started early for Canada with a try in the first minute, with Kenya scoring two of their own and taking a 14-5 lead going into the second half. Webster scored his third try of the day off a give and go with Kal Sager, closing the scoring gap. Canada pushed hard until the final whistle, but a try off the final play gave Kenya the 21-10 win.
Canada’s sevens teams will be back in action in January, with back-to-back stops in Hamilton, New Zealand (January 21-22) and Sydney, Australia (January 27-29). For full results from the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, visit the official website: world.rugby/sevens-series.