Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team finishes fourth in Krakow ahead of HSBC SVNS Play-off

The third round of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger came to a close on Saturday in Krakow, Poland, with Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team finishing fourth.

Canada faced Samoa in the semi-finals after going undefeated through pool play on Friday. Samoa opened scoring early, with Jamie Armstrong getting Canada on the board in the fifth minute. The conversion unsuccessful, Samoa continued to lead, 7-5. Samoa went on the score three more tries, and despite a yellow card to Samoa in the 11th minute, Canada was unable to close the gap, Samoa taking the win 28-5.

The third place play-off featured Canada taking on Germany, with Armstrong once again scoring for Canada, this time off a kick from Morgan Di Nardo. Germany responded quickly, finding an opening in Canada’s defence to score, going up 7-5 with a good conversion, a lead they held at half-time.

The second half opened with two more tries from Germany, but Kainoa Lloyd made an impact off the bench to keep Canada in the game. With a tap and go from Thomas Isherwood, Canada moved the ball quickly across the field to Lloyd, who sprinted down the wing to score.

Taking advantage of penalties to Germany, Di Nardo soon added another for Canada. Isherwood converted both tries to bring the score to 21-19, but despite the strong final push, Germany took the win.

As one of the top four teams from the three rounds of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger, Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team has qualified to progress on to the HSBC SVNS Play-off in Los Angeles over May 3 to 4. The pools and schedule will be announced by World Rugby shortly.

More information on the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger, including full schedules and updates scores, can be found here.