World Rugby Sevens Series: rebirth of Canada’s squad comes to fruition on home turf in Vancouver
- Downing France, Fiji and South Africa on their way to a bronze medal at the Canada Sevens this past weekend, the squad is on the rise
- The team sit eighth on the World Rugby Sevens Series and look to London to build off while eyeing Tokyo 2020 this summer
The last time the Canadian rugby seven’s men’s squad medalled at a World Rugby Sevens Series event was nearly three years ago.
On April 16, 2017 the squad downed the United States 26-19 at the Singapore Sevens, in what many thought was the upstart team’s coming out party. The past few years have been rough for the boys in red, as they have finished no higher than eighth since 2014 and are dealing with an ongoing labour dispute between the players and Rugby Canada.
The squad also beat the Fijians – who are reigning Olympic champions – last year in Vancouver. The squad finished off their pool play by beating Wales 29-7 in a show of strength.
On Sunday, the squad opened by blanking Spain 21-0, then lost a heartbreaker to the Australians 19-14 in the semi-final as they gave up two tries in the span of 30 seconds and could not convert a last second scoring chance that would have given them the win. In the bronze medal match they looked ready to avenge the loss, and this was Canada’s first win over South Africa in seven years, a squad that won the Vancouver event in 2019.
Head coach Henry Paul said in a post-match interview they have been building off a fifth-place finish last season in Hamilton, New Zealand, and trying to put together good tournaments and solid outings since then.
