Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team opens Paris 2024 with win over Fiji, loss to New Zealand

Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team opened their Paris 2024 Olympic campaign on Sunday at the Stade de France, winning 17-14 over Fiji and losing 33-7 to New Zealand in their first two pool play matches. 

The first day of the women’s sevens competition was played in front of a record-breaking 66,000 fans–the biggest crowd for a women’s rugby event in history, beating the previous record of 54,498 set by England and France at Twickenham in 2023.

The team’s first match marked the second time Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team has met Fiji at the Olympics, and Canada’s first Olympic victory over the Fijians. Both teams had close chances on the wings in the opening few minutes, with Charity Williams mere metres away from scoring. It was Florence Symonds who scored first for Canada however, touching the ball down between the uprights in the fourth minute. A conversion from Chloe Daniels put Canada up 7-0. 

Williams, playing in her third Olympics, furthered Canada’s lead in the sixth minute, receiving a pass from Symonds and finishing with her signature somersault. The conversion unsuccessful, Canada held a 12-0 lead through to half-time. 

Fiji got on the board in the ninth minute, cutting Canada’s lead to 12-7. Canada maintained pace however, with returning Olympian Keyara Wardley scoring for Canada with two minutes left on the clock. Fiji scored once more in the final minute, but Canada held on to the lead and a 17-14 win.

“I’m really proud of the team, we stuck to our game plan and we were just really focused in this first game of the Olympics,” said captain Olivia Apps. “Definitely a key victory. It’s been back and forth with us and Fiji since Tokyo honestly. They’ve gotten a few on us, we’ve gotten a few on them, and for us today I think we just really stuck to our system and played our process, and I think that reflects in the game.”

Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team then faced New Zealand, the first time the two sides have met at the Olympics. New Zealand started on the attack, striking in the second minute to go up 7-0. Williams responded moments later with her second try of the day, converted by Asia Hogan-Rochester to tie the game. New Zealand scored twice more before half-time however, taking a 19-7 lead. Two more tries for the reigning Olympic champions in the second half gave New Zealand a 33-7 win over Canada.

“I thought we had great moments against Fiji this morning, and I actually thought we had some good moments there against New Zealand in the first seven minutes for sure,” said Head Coach Jack Hanratty. “We just didn’t hold on to the ball as much as we would have liked to and the goals and targets that we set out for ourselves. But that’s the game of sevens. We’re the maker of our own destiny, and tomorrow we’ll get to go out against a very good China side. We know they’re good, they’ve qualified for the World Series, they had a great performance against Fiji today. So we have to not let other teams dictate the speed of the game, we have to dictate it ourselves.”

Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team finishes pool play on July 29 against China at 7:00am PT / 10:00am ET. All matches can be watched live at cbcsports.ca.  

For more information on the Paris 2024 Olympic women’s rugby sevens competition, including scores, schedule and more, visit world.rugby.

July 28 Results

Canada 17 - 14 Fiji
Pool Play
Tries: Florence Symonds, Charity Williams, Keyara Wardley
Conversions: Chloe Daniels

Canada 7 - 33 New Zealand
Pool Play
Tries: Charity Williams
Conversions: Asia Hogan-Rochester

July 29 Schedule 

Canada vs China
Pool Play
4:00pm CET / 10:00am ET / 7:00am PT
Watch live on CBC (and stream at CBC Sports)

Canada vs TBA
Quarter-finals or 9th place semi-final
Time TBA
Stream live at CBC Sports (additional broadcast details TBA)

*Please note that the Olympic television broadcast schedule is subject to change, but that all matches will be available live and for free on cbcsports.ca and CBC Gem.