Sweet Charity was a 1960s Neil Simon Broadway musical. In rugby, Charity has been a long-running hit on the field for Canada.
It was just like old times for Charity Williams of the Langford-based Canadian women’s team Sunday in the Singapore Sevens. Williams, the last connection on the national team to Canada’s win over Great Britain in the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medal game, was at it again to bedevil the British. Williams, 27, showed some of her vintage acceleration in scoring two tries to lead Canada to a 17-5 victory over GB in the seventh-place game.
The Canadian women’s team in Singapore also featured University of Victoria Vikes players Carissa Norsten, Krissy Scurfield and Shalaya Valenzuela
Both the national women’s and men’s squads were in Singapore over weekend for the final HSBC World Series tournament of the season. Next up for the Canadian women is the World Series Grand Final in Madrid followed by the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The No. 5-ranked Canadian women are among the eight teams that will retain their core status for the 2024-25 World Series season.
Canada earned its 2024 Olympic Games berth by winning the North American and Caribbean women’s qualifying tournament last August at Starlight Stadium.
In Singapore, Canada was missing Sophie de Goede of Victoria and captain Olivia Apps, who are with the Canadian XVs team that is playing in the Pacific Four Series. That left veterans such as Breanne Nicholas, Julia Greenshields and Williams to carry the rock as head coach Jack Hanratty gave some younger hopefuls a run as he looks to refine his roster for the Paris Olympics.
“Singapore is a great opportunity for us to try some new combinations as we progress towards Madrid [Grand Final], and eventually, Paris,” said Hanratty said in a statement.
The Canadian men, meanwhile, lost 17-12 to Samoa on Sunday in the 11-12 playoff game in Singapore. They are preparing for two tournaments that will define their immediate future. As the No. 12 team this season, Canada will compete in the World Series repechage tournament May 31-June 2 in Madrid. The bottom four teams this season — Canada, U.S., Spain, Samoa — are grouped with the top-four teams from the second-level Challenger Series — Uruguay, Kenya, Chile, Germany — to play for the last four spots in the top-tier World Series for 2024-25.
After that comes the men’s last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament for Paris that takes place June 21-23 in Monaco.
“It’s been a tough season thus far, however throughout the season we were able to gain valuable experience while taking our lumps,” says Canada head coach Sean White of Victoria, in a statement.
Hopefully for Canada, that pays off in the repechage tournament in Madrid to remain in the World Series, and also in the last-chance Olympic qualifier for Paris next month in Monaco, to which Canada was redirected, after finishing second to the U.S. in the North American and Caribbean Olympic qualifying tournament last summer at Starlight Stadium.
