Canada Women Finish 6th in Cape Town – 7th in Overall Standings
Canada defeated Fiji in the 5th place semi-final but lost to Japan in the 5th place final to finish 6th at the tournament. The two 6th place finishes have put them in 7th place overall in the standings. Canada have lost to Japan all three times so far this season which is a concern. Japan currently sit in 3rd place and are the surprise team of the season. Australia and NZ have already distanced themselves from the pack as the top two teams in the women’s division. In the men’s division South Africa, Fiji, New Zealand are all tied in top spot.
Adding to the bad news for the 7s team is that Asia Hogan-Rochester, who has been the top player so far this season, is moving on to play XVs in the English PWR league with Sale in the new year. Her 3 tries in the match against Fiji were key to Canada’s win. The 7s team are missing a number of top players, some are playing in the PWR, and some are recovering from injury. Piper Logan and Florence Symonds are two players on the injured list who will hopefully be back on the 7s circuit this season.
Next up are the Singapore and Perth tournaments starting at the end of January. The draw for Singapore sees Canada in a pool with New Zealand, France and Great Britain.
from Rugby Canada
Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team has wrapped up 2025 with a sixth-place finish at HSBC Cape Town SVNS after a win over Fiji and a loss to Japan on the final day of the competition. Canada finished fourth in their pool, losing to France and to Japan and Australia both by just seven points.
Canada will be back in action starting January 31, 2026 for the HSBC Singapore SVNS. For Canada’s schedule and the latest news, visit the official SVNS website here.
Canada 33 Fiji 14
Canada kicked off the day with their first win of the weekend, securing a spot in the fifth-place playoff. Asia Hogan-Rochester delivered a standout performance, crossing the line three times and adding three conversions, single-handedly accounting for 21 points.
Canada held a 19–7 lead at halftime after two tries from Hogan-Rochester and another from Kennedi Stevenson—her third of the tournament—within the opening seven minutes.
Canada continued to roll on both sides of the ball in the second half. Hogan-
Rochester added her third try in the eighth minute, before Larah Wright capped off the victory with a try on the final play. Savannah Bauder slotted the conversion to seal the 33–14 win for Canada.
Scoring Summary: Asia Hogan Rochester (3T, 3C), Kennedi Stevenson (1T), Larah Wright (1T), Savannah Bauder (1C)
Canada 10 Japan 12
Canada struck first after a turnover deep in Japan’s end, stealing the ball at a breakdown near the 22-metre line. After a few phases, Stevenson finished off the sequence to give Canada the opening try. Japan answered quickly, however, responding with a try of their own and adding the conversion to take a narrow 7–5 lead.
Just before halftime, Breanne Nicholas powered across the line at the buzzer, restoring Canada’s advantage and sending them into the break ahead 10–7.
The second half was defined by defensive pressure from both sides but with only 20 seconds remaining, Japan used a late scrum as their platform and executed cleanly, scoring on the final play to edge Canada 12–10.
Scoring Summary: Kennedi Stevenson (1T), Breanne Nicholas (1T)
CANADIAN MILESTONE
After the 21-point performance against Fiji, Asia Hogan-Rochester surpassed the 300-point mark, now with 312 points scored in their sevens career including 44 tries across 17 tournaments.
HSBC SVNS SERIES
The first tournament of the new year will take place in Singapore from January 31 to February 1, 2026. For the most up to date information on the HSBC SVNS Series and live coverage, including details on the event format, the schedule and the latest news, visit the official website: https://www.svns.com/en
HSBC VANCOUVER SEVENS 2026
Rugby fans will be able to catch both Canada’s Men’s and Women’s Teams in action on home soil at HSBC Vancouver Sevens (March 7-8, 2026) at BC Place. Buy tickets now at vansevens.com.
Canada 0-3 on Day 1 of Cape Town 7s – Face Fiji in 5th Place Semi-Final on Day 2
Things went from bad to worse for the Canadian women at Cape Town. After failing to make the Cup round in Dubai with a 1-2 pool round, they went 0-3 in the pool round in Cape Town, losing to Japan, Australia and France.
In the Japan match Canada lost the opening kick off and gave up an easy try, defence wasn’t good, energy level was low. It was 14-12 for Japan at the half. The announcers brought up an interesting stat, “Canada were the only team in Dubai to concede a try on all 13 entries to their own 22”. Canada seem to be playing an energy-efficient, passive, defence and it’s not working, they’re not slowing the ball down with some contest at the breakdowns, and Japan looked in control for the whole match. In the France match, stats showed Canada had 4 missed tackles and France none. In all their matches Canada had a lower number of clean breaks than their opponents, other teams are improving their defence and Canada is coming up short in that area.
Japan 26 – Canada 19
Scorers: Carmen Izyk (1T), Krissy Scurfield (1T), Larah Wright (1T), Asia Hogan-Rochester (1C), Savannah Bauder (1C)
Australia 26 – Canada 19
Scorers: Kennedi Stevenson (1T), Carissa Norsten (1T), Carmen Izyk (1T), Asia Hogan-Rochester (2C)
France 31 – Canada 12
Scorers: Kennedi Stevenson (1T), Pamphinette Buisa (1T), Asia Hogan-Rochester (1C)
Canada
4. Breanne Nicholas (Blenheim, ON) – Kent Havoc RFC
5. Savannah Bauder (North Vancouver, BC) – University of British Columbia / Capilano RFC
6. (injured) Charity Williams (Toronto, ON) – Markham Irish / University of British Columbia
8. Carmen Izyk (High River, AB) – Foothills Lions / Queen’s University / RCTPM
13. Krissy Scurfield (Canmore, AB) – University of Victoria
14. Eden Kilgour (Barrie, ON) – Westshore RFC / University of Victoria
19. Carissa Norsten (Waldheim, SK) – Kirin RWC / University of Victoria
21. Adia Pye (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers / University of British Columbia
24. Asia Hogan-Rochester (Toronto, ON) – Toronto Nomads / Westshore RFC
38. Kennedi Stevenson (Georgetown, ON) – Brantford Harlequins
47. Larah Wright (Calgary, AB) – University of Victoria
55. Monique Coffey (Dauphin, MB) – Scion Sirens
68. Ivy Poetker (Calgary, AB) – Calgary Rams
99. Pamphinette Buisa (Gatineau, QC) – Ottawa Irish
from World Rugby
HSBC SVNS: Argentina bounce back in Cape Town after Dubai despair
Wallaroos, Black Ferns Sevens and Blitzboks go unbeaten on a dramatic opening day of HSBC SVNS rugby in Cape Town, while Argentina look forward to a semi-final outing after finishing eighth in the desert last weekend
In the men’s competition, newly crowned Dubai champions New Zealand and finalists Australia both missed out on the semi-finals in Cape Town, as the new-look HSBC SVNS format took a hard toll on the teams.
Defending Cape Town champions South Africa, however had no problem booking their place in the last four, winning all three of their matches to set up a Cup decider against France on Sunday.
In the other half of the draw, a much-improved Spain were denied a last four spot on points difference, after conceding a late try against a rejuvenated Argentina to gift the South American side a crucial bonus point that meant they topped the pool and were assured a quarter-final against Fiji.
France then did more than enough to claim second in the pool, leaving last season’s Grand Final runners-up facing another minor-places play-off run.
In the women’s competition, Dubai finalists New Zealand and Australia could be on a collision course for a second final in as many HSBC SVNS tournaments, after both going unbeaten on the opening day in Cape Town.
Jorja Miller overtook Maddison Levi in the season try-scoring rankings with a hat-trick in the final match of Pool A, as the Black Ferns Sevens went three-for three to top the table and set-up a semi-final against France.
Miller has 11 tries so far this season, one more than her Australian rival heading into finals day on Sunday.
Levi had a relatively quiet day by her standards, crossing the whitewash just three times. But Australia, who have never been beaten in Cape Town, eased to consecutive victories over France, Canada and Japan to set up their last-four match against USA on Sunday.