Canada claimed 3rd place in the tournament in Bordeaux and in the process caught USA in the standings and claimed 3rd place overall in the championship standings. Australia won the women’s tournament and series, NZ came 2nd, USA 4th. In the men’s tournament France won the tournament but South Africa won the series.
Rugby Canada released their NextGen programming plan for 2026 in May and one of those tournaments was the EAAST tournament in Haguenau, France on May 29-30 for women’s 7s. Rugby Canada has been quiet on the results of that tournament on social media, and one reason may be is that the team placed 5th out of 8 teams that included Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, R10 (Barbarian team). All those teams finished ahead of Canada. Canada finished ahead Belgium, Georgia and Denmark. Both Czechia and Poland are on the SVNS 3 circuit, Germany aren’t even on the SVNS 3 circuit.
Canada did well in pool play going undefeated in four games but lost to USA in the semis and NZ in the 3rd/4th match to finish 4th in the tournament. That result puts them in a 4th/5th place tie with France in the Championship series with only Bordeaux left. USA are in 3rd, NZ 2nd and Australia in top place.
Canada’s highlight of the tournament was the win over #5 USA on Day 2 but they were no match for #1 NZ or #3 France on Day 3. Canada also picked up injuries during the tournament and fielded an 11 player roster against France minus Fancy Bermudez and Caroline Crossley, both injured in the Australia NZ match. Next up is the tournament in Spain at the end of May. Canada will be in a pool with France, Spain and Great Britain. NZ won the Hong Kong women’s tournament, South Africa the men’s tournament.
How would Rugby Canada divide up the talent for conflicting XVs and 7s commitments in April? We’ve now got the answer. It looks like 7s is the more immediate priority and that XVs is being used to introduce new players at the beginning of the world cup cycle. The 7s team have captured key players like Olivia Apps, Fancy Bermudez, Sabrina Poulin and Alysha Corrigan who would be certain selections on the XVs squad. The XVs team have brought in 8 debutantes.
Canada lost to France in the 5th place semi-final 24-19. It was a better performance for Canada with the match tied 19-19 as the clock wound down, a late try by France gave them the victory. Canada followed that up with their first win of the tournament 22-14 over Great Britain. Florence Symonds and Charity Williams again led the team on Day 2, Williams scoring 3 tries and Symonds distributing and leading on defence, she was the leading defender in their win over Great Britain with 5 tackles.
It was a better performance on Day 2 with Savannah Bauder putting in a strong performance. Carissa Norsten was helped off the field in the second match which will be a concern with the New York tournament next weekend. Some of the returning veterans were starting to find their form, Charity Williams showed some speed on the outside but defensive work remains a concern and will have to be addressed by the coaches. It was confirmed on social media that Piper Logan tore her MCL so will be out for a while and with Krissy Scurfield recuperating and Carissa Norsten a question mark the squad depth will be tested in NY. Canada (60) remain 5th in the series behind France (66) and ahead of Japan (54).
Canada had a good Day 2 winning both their games and finally defeating Japan this season, a team that seemed to have their number in the first two tournaments. The result is Canada finished 5th in the tournament and 6th overall as France passed them in the standings. Next up is Vancouver and Canada have been drawn in a pool with Australia, USA and Fiji, the fans will love the Canada v USA rivalry.
Canada finished 3rd in Singapore, their best finish of the season, with two previous 6th place finishes. The addition of players from the PWR, especially Olivia Apps, helped raise their level of performance. They’re still a ways behind NZ and Australia who contested for the final with NZ coming out on top. Canada lost their semi-final to Australia 35-10 but defeated USA 24-19 in the Bronze medal match. That win vaults Canada into 4th in the standings from 7th previously. Next up is Perth and Canada have the same pool opponents, Australia, France, Great Britain.
Coach Jocelyn Barrieau has selected 14 players to travel to Singapore and Perth for the two back to back tournaments starting at the end of this month. The surprise is seeing some of the PWR players returning to the squad, Olivia Apps, Fancy Bermudez, Sabrina Poulin, Alysha Corrigan, Gabrielle Senft. Also former Exeter player Taylor Perry is back on the 7s squad. Missing from the first two tournaments are Charity Williams (injured), Pam Buisa and Asia-Hogan Rochester (PWR), Carmen Izyk, Adia Pye, Monique Coffey, Ivy Poetker. NOTE: The original Rugby Canada media release had Rachel Smith in the roster, the updated media release has Larah Wright in the roster instead.