Canada returns to the pitch for Day 1 of the Sydney Sevens

The Sydney Sevens tournament opened at Allianz Stadium with some tight games and highlight reel worthy moments for Canada’s teams, who are back on the pitch following last weekend’s New Zealand Sevens.

Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team got the day started with a close game against the USA. With Canada gaining some early momentum, Pamphinette Buisa went to work, scoring in the second minute to give Canada a 5-0 lead. The Americans scored all of their points in the final minutes of the first half, taking advantage of a penalty to Bianca Farella to push through a persistent Canadian defence and score 14 points.

In the second half it was Canada’s turn to capitalize on the player advantage. With Ilona Maher off the pitch after being awarded a yellow card for a deliberate knock on with just under three minutes remaining, Nakisa Levale found Alysha Corrigan, who had come on as a late substitution. Corrigan scored her second-ever Sevens Series try, and Olivia Apps kicked a clean conversion to close the gap. Canada attempted to score another, but ran out of time, losing 14-12.

The team’s second match of the day saw Canada lose 19-5 to Great Britain, with Olivia Apps scoring Canada’s sole try off a great play from Madison Grant, who caught the ball in the restart and passed it off to Apps.

Phil Berna reached 200 career points on the World Rugby Sevens Series with the opening try in Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team’s match-up with Argentina, the winners of last weekend’s New Zealand Sevens. Superb pressure from the Canadians gave Berna a clear path down the middle of the field to give Canada an early lead.

Argentina—who hasn’t lost a single pool play match this season—got on the board with a minute remaining in the first half. Canada didn’t let up, with Anton Ngongo using the extra time allotted before the break to help bring Canada’s lead to 12-5.

Brock Webster further increased Canada’s lead, showing off his quick feet and adding a try and a conversion. Down 19-5, Argentina seemed to have started their comeback, but a stunning save from Josiah Morra in the in-goal area held up the try. However, Argentina found some opportunities in the final minutes to score three tries in quick succession and steal a 24-19 win.

Argentina currently sits at the top of Pool A in the men’s tournament, with Canada in third. Meanwhile, Great Britain has the top spot in Pool B in the women’s tournament, with Canada in fourth.

Pool play finishes on Friday January 27. Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team plays Australia at 4:12 p.m. PT / 7:12 p.m. ET and Great Britain at 9:55 p.m. PT / 12:55 a.m. ET, while Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team plays Fiji at 5:06 p.m. PT / 8:06 p.m. ET.

Broadcast coverage of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series is available in Canada via CBC. All tournaments 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.

The Sydney Sevens is the second to last stop on the World Rugby Sevens Series before the world comes to Vancouver for the Canada Sevens on March 3-5. Buy tickets now at canadasevens.com.