Strong win over Spain highlights Day 1 of Singapore Sevens

The ninth stop on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series got under way in Singapore on Saturday, with Canada competing in Pool B.

First up was Fiji, a team Canada had faced a week earlier in Hong Kong, losing 40-7. This time around, Canada closed the gap and pressured Fiji’s line early. Phil Berna scored first following two minutes of Canadian possession, simultaneously drawing a yellow card against Fiji. However, the Fijians demonstrated their speed and footwork, scoring twice to go up 14-5 at half-time.

David Richard scored his first try of the day to kick off the second half, touching the ball down in the corner and getting Canada back in the game. Lockie Kratz’s kick hit the post, but the conversion was clean, bringing the score to 14-12. Great efforts from Kratz and Kal Sager mere metres away from Fiji’s try line highlighted the final minutes, but Fiji responded by scoring to ensure a more comfortable lead, with the game ending at 21-12.

Canada scored first yet again in their match against Spain, with Max Stewart scoring his first career HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series try within the first minute of play. A series of nice offloads three minutes later led to Canada’s second try, with Richard finding a break and speeding down the outside of the field.

Spain scored one of their own in minute eight, but Canada sealed the deal in the final few minutes of the game with a try from Sager. Canada was perfect on all three conversions (two from Kratz, one from Brennig Prevost) to take the win 21-7.

Canada couldn’t make it three for three with scoring first in their final game of pool play, with Samoa striking immediately. But some nice footwork from Kratz got him close enough to the end zone to reach the ball over the line, and he tied it up with a clean kick.

Two more from Samoa gave them a 19-7 lead at half-time, and they further stretched their lead with four tries in the second half, eventually winning by a score of 39-7.

Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team will now play Kenya in the ninth place quarter finals on Saturday April 8 at 7:50 p.m. PT / 10:50 p.m. ET.

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