Hong Kong 7s Wrapup – 2023

Hong Kong 7s Wrapup: Women Finish 6th in 12 Team Tournament; Men Finish 14th in 16 Team Tournament and the Relegation Tournament Looms Larger

The men fell further off the pace in trying to avoid the relegation tournament. With two tournaments left, Singapore next week and Toulouse in May, it’s looking unlikely that Canada will make up the 18 points on Spain and 17 points on Uruguay to contest for the 11th spot and exemption from the relegation tournament in London. Spain made the quarter-final in Hong Kong which gave them 10 series points and allowed them to pass Uruguay who garnered 5 series points. Canada earned 2 series points in Hong Kong. Canada are in a pool with Fiji, Spain and Samoa in Singapore so they’ll have a chance to go head to head against Spain in that tournament.

The women finished in 6th place in the 12 team tournament. They defeated Hong Kong and USA in the tournament. They still remain in 8th place ahead of Japan, Spain and Brazil but well back of Great Britain in 7th place. The women are in a pool with NZ, USA and Poland in Toulouse their next and final tournament. The good news for them is the USA guaranteed themselves a top 4 finish and automatic Olympic qualification, so they won’t be at the Rugby Americas North Olympic qualifier in Langford in August.

Overall the women’s team are playing their best rugby of the season and have claimed 6th place in back to back tournaments. Olivia Apps is playing her best rugby and was on the voting list for the team of the tournament. Young guns Piper Logan and Krissy Scurfield are showing the potential for the future. There’s still a way to go in rebuilding the program to its former Olympic Bronze glory under coach John Tait and led by Jen Kish.

The men’s program are testing out various young players, trying to find a combination that could win the relegation tournament but time is running out. The loss to Hong Kong was disheartening, Hong Kong may not even be good enough to make the relegation tournament with teams like Chile also trying to get the one spot allocated to a non-series team. You could dissect the stats like balls lost at the breakdown, the missed tackles, handling errors but the overall feeling is there just isn’t the same energy that teams like Spain and Uruguay are bringing to the games. When watching Spain and Uruguay their defensive energy is frenetic, the number of players on cross cover defence, how quickly they close gaps, how vigorously they contest the breakdown, how fast they come off the line and the pressure they apply on the attacking team, that energy isn’t being generated from Canada on a consistent basis. Hopefully the coaches will figure it out by May.

Canada Women (6th of 12)

France 22 – Canada 12

Canada 12 – USA 7
New Zealand 45 – Canada 14
New Zealand 46 – Canada 0
Canada 22 – Hong Kong 5
Great Britain 5 – Canada 0

Canada Men (14th of 16)

Canada 7 v Hong Kong 17

Canada 19 – Japan 12
Ireland 17 – Canada 0
Samoa 29 – Canada 5
Fiji 40 – Canada 7
Argentina 17 – Canada 7

CANADA’S WOMEN’S SEVENS ROSTER

1. Olivia De Couvreur (Ottawa, ON) – Ottawa Irish
2. Krissy Scurfield (Canmore, AB) – University of Victoria
4. Breanne Nicholas (Blenheim, ON) – Kent Havoc RFC
5. Julia Greenshields (Sarnia, ON) – Sarnia Saints
11. Piper Logan (Calgary, AB) – Calgary Hornets / University of British Columbia
12. Keyara Wardley (Vulcan, AB) – Not Affiliated
13. Taejah Thompson (Calgary, AB) – Calgary Canadian Irish Athletic Club
16. Alysha Corrigan (Charlottetown, PEI) – CRFC / Saracens
19. Nakisa Levale (Abbotsford, BC) – Abbotsford RFC
21. Olivia Apps (Lindsay, ON) – Lindsay RFC
23. Shalaya Valenzuela (Abbotsford, BC) – Abbotsford RFC
33. Maddy Grant (Cornwall, ON) – University of Ottawa
77. Chloe Daniels (Sutton, ON) – Aurora Barbarians / Queen’s University

CANADA’S MEN’S SEVENS ROSTER

1. Anton Ngongo (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers
4. Phil Berna (Vancouver, BC) – Vancouver Rowing Club
5. Alex Russell (Chichester, ENG) – McGill University
6. Josiah Morra (Toronto, ON) – Castaway Wanderers / Toronto Saracens
10. Brennig Prevost (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers
12. David Richard (Milton, ON) – Mississauga Blues RFC
19. Matthew Oworu (Calgary, AB) – Pacific Pride
21. Max Stewart (Cape Town, RSA) – Pacific Pride
23. Thomas Isherwood (Okotoks, AB) – Foothills Lions RFC
33. Kal Sager (Peterborough, ON) – Peterborough Pagans / Trent University
44. Lockie Kratz (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers / NOLA Gold
64. Elias Hancock (Ottawa, ON) – Bytown Blues
77. Will Percillier (Bordeaux, FRA) – Rugby Club Vannes

Posted in National Men's 7s, National Women's 7s.