Canadian Women Finish 7th in Perth, Men Finish 12th: Series Standings Women 6th, Men 11th
The Canadian women lost to Great Britain 7-0 in the quarter-final but defeated Fiji 26-5 in the 7th/8th place game. That result puts Canada at 6th place overall in the standings with USA and Ireland jumping ahead of them.
Ireland won the women’s tournament, upsetting host Australia but Great Britain were the surprise team finishing 3rd and jumping out of the relegation zone. The teams in the relegation zone are Brazil, Japan, South Africa and Spain and already with four tournaments left, it’s looking as if these four teams are headed to the relegation tournament. Australia tops the series standings and extends its lead over NZ, who had a poor tournament, by 12 points.
The Canadian men had a dire tournament, losing all their matches and now have finished last in two of the three tournaments to date. Their best performance was a 26-21 loss to NZ in the 9th/10th semi-final. They lost the 11th/12th place match to Great Britain 17-5. The biggest disappointment was the 33-12 loss to Spain in the Pool round. By the final match they only had 3 replacements on the bench with Matt Oworu being lost to injury early in the tournament, then Phil Berna, Lockie Kratz picking up injuries. Argentina won the men’s tournament and remain as series leaders.
Next tournament is the Vancouver 7s, February 23rd to 25th. The men are in Pool A with Argentina, Fiji and Spain. The women are in Pool C with France, Great Britain and Spain.
The pools for #HSBCSVNSVAN have arrived #HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/1zooxEDoMc
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) January 28, 2024
[Photo: Asia Hogan-Rochester credit Mike Lee – KLC fotos]
Canada Women 1-1 on Day 1 Secure QF Spot – Men 0-2 Face Spain in Final Pool Round
The women lost to Great Britain 14-12 in their first match but defeated South Africa 26-7 in their second pool match. That result is enough to secure a spot in the quarter-finals even though Canada have one pool match remaining against Australia. Spain, South Africa, Brazil and Japan are winless after two rounds and will be in the consolation round regardless of their final pool match result.
The men’s playoff picture isn’t set yet but it’s unlikely Canada will advance to the quarter-finals even with a win over Spain. Canada are the only team at zero points after two matches, a win over Spain would give them 3 points but with an existing point differential of -41 they are well behind other teams in case of a tie. Canada lost to South Africa 24-7 and then 29-5 to Argentina.
Perth 7s Kicks Off Thursday Evening at 8pm PT: Live Stream on RugbyPass.TV
Canada men will start their Perth 7s campaign on Thursday evening at 8:44 PT against South Africa. The women face Great Britain at 11:05 PT in their first match. Perth are 16 hours ahead of the west coast so even though the tournament runs Friday to Sunday in Perth, it will be Thursday to Saturday evening (and early morning) for west coast viewers.
The men have a tough pool with South Africa and Argentina in their pool, their final pool match will be against Spain. The women start off with matches against Great Britain and South Africa before meeting #1 Australia in their final pool match.
The men’s team have one change from Cape Town with Ethan Hager replacing Max Stewart.
The women’s team have two changes out are Piper Logan and Olivia de Couvreur and in are Breanne Nicholas and Maddy Grant.
from Rugby Canada
The 2024 HSBC SVNS Series continues at HBF Park in Perth, Australia over January 26 to 28, and Canada’s rosters for the third stop of the series have been named by Head Coaches Jack Hanratty and Sean White.
Currently in fifth place overall, Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team opened the series in December by beating Ireland to progress to the semi-finals, eventually meeting France in the bronze medal match and finishing fourth. The following week in Cape Town, the team progressed to the quarter-finals once again, finishing in sixth after a close loss to Fiji in the fifth place play-off.
Eleven players who competed in Dubai and Cape Town return for Perth, including Krissy Scurfield and Charity Williams, who lead the team this season with five tries each. Joining the squad are Madison Grant, who represented Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team at WXV1 in New Zealand in the fall, and Olympian Breanne Nicholas, who won Pan American Games silver with the team in November and returns following recovery from injury.
“It was great to get back together following the holiday decentralization period and continue seeing the dedication and work ethic from all the players in our program. We have a huge number of events ahead of us this season and are happy to have so many quality rugby players challenging for selection,” said Jack Hanratty, Head Coach of Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team. “We showed through the first two stops in Dubai and Cape Town that we can compete with the best in the world, and that continues to be what we strive for heading into Perth, challenging for podium positions with performances we are proud of.”
After a twelfth place finish in the opening leg of the series in Dubai, Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team rallied together in Cape Town to beat New Zealand and Samoa in pool play, later rebounding from a quarter-final loss with a victory over France to claim seventh place. The team currently sits ninth overall in the standings.
The roster stepping on the pitch in Perth includes 12 players who competed in Cape Town, including team leading try scorers Lockie Kratz and Jack Carson (five tries each; Kratz also leads the team in points this season with 39). Ethan Hager is set to make his HSBC SVNS Series debut, having made his first international appearance last August at the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier in Langford.
“Our Cape Town performance showed what we are capable of. The timing of the result added a level of confidence and motivation to our players over the holiday break as they continued their training close to family and friends,” said Sean White, Head Coach of Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team. “The challenge becomes the consistency of those performances. Seventh place, although a very strong finish based on our previous few years, is not the internal apex of this group. Our sights remain focused tournament by tournament and on building a consistent product that reflects the commitment, competition and resilience this group puts forward each day in our daily training environment in Langford.”
PERTH POOL PLAY SCHEDULE
Friday January 26
Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team vs South Africa
8:44 p.m. PT / 11:44 p.m. ET (Thursday January 25) / 12:44 p.m. local time
Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team vs Great Britain
11:05 p.m. PT (Thursday January 25) / 2:05 a.m. ET / 3:05 p.m. local time
Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team vs Argentina
2:45 a.m. PT / 5:45 a.m. ET / 6:45 p.m. local time
Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team vs South Africa
4:04 a.m. PT / 7:04 a.m. ET / 8:04 p.m. local time
Saturday January 27
Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team vs Australia
7:54 p.m. PT / 10:54 p.m. ET (Friday January 26) / 11:54 a.m. local time
Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team vs Spain
8:16 p.m. PT / 11:16 p.m. ET (Friday January 26) / 12:16 p.m. local time
Following the Perth tournament, both teams travel home to Canada to prepare for competition on home soil at HSBC SVNS Vancouver (February 23-25, 2024) at BC Place. Buy tickets now at vansevens.com.
MORE INFO
All games can be livestreamed for free on RugbyPass TV.
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
CANADA’S WOMEN’S SEVENS ROSTER
4. Breanne Nicholas (Blenheim, ON) – Kent Havoc RFC
6. Charity Williams (Toronto, ON) – Markham Irish
7. Florence Symonds (Hong Kong) – University of British Columbia
9. Maddy Grant (Cornwall, ON) – University of Ottawa
10. Fancy Bermudez (Edmonton, AB) – NorWester Athletic Association / Westshore RFC
13. Krissy Scurfield (Canmore, AB) – University of Victoria
16. Alysha Corrigan (Charlottetown, PEI) – CRFC
19. Carissa Norsten (Waldheim, SK) – Kirin RFC / University of Victoria
21. Olivia Apps (Lindsay, ON) – Lindsay RFC
23. Shalaya Valenzuela (Abbotsford, BC) – Abbotsford RFC
24. Asia Hogan-Rochester (Toronto, ON) – Toronto Nomads RFC
35. Caroline Crossley (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers
77. Chloe Daniels (Sutton, ON) Aurora Barbarians / Queen’s University
CANADA’S MEN’S SEVENS ROSTER
2. Jake Thiel (Victoria, B.C.) – James Bay AA
4. Phil Berna (Vancouver, B.C.) – Vancouver Rowing Club
6. Josiah Morra (Toronto, ON) – Castaway Wanderers / Toronto Saracens
8. Cooper Coats (Halifax, NS) – Halifax Tars
12. David Richard (Milton, Ont.) – Mississauga Blues RFC
15. Ethan Hager (Brantford, ON) – Brantford Harlequins
19. Matthew Oworu (Calgary, AB) – Pacific Pride
23. Thomas Isherwood (Okotoks, AB) – Foothills Lions RFC
33. Kal Sager (Peterborough, Ont.) – Peterborough Pagans / Trent University
44. Lockie Kratz (Victoria, B.C.) – Castaway Wanderers / NOLA Gold
59. Cody Nhanala (Ottawa, ON) – Ottawa Ospreys / Pacific Pride
88. Matt Percillier (Victoria, BC) – University of British Columbia
99. Jack Carson (Victoria, B.C.) – University of British Columbia