The Langford-based Canada women’s rugby team played Tokyo Olympic silver-medallist France tight in two matches at the HSBC World Series Cape Town Sevens to give an indication of its improving status.
Canada and France tied as Canada went 1-1-1 in group play. France then beat Canada in overtime 19-14 in the fifth-place game Sunday. That result brought up another podium team from the Tokyo Olympics, bronze-medallist Fiji, with Canada losing 26-12 to place eighth overall. Canada had lost 50-5 to defending Olympic-champion New Zealand in the quarter-finals. The Kiwis went on to win the Cape Town tournament Sunday.
Rookie Shalaya Valenzuela, Olivia De Couvreur, Krissy Scurfield of the University of Victoria Vikes, Olivia Apps, Keyara Wardley and 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallists Charity Williams and Bianca Farella had notable performances for Canada.
Canada was ninth in the 2022-23 opening Dubai Sevens the previous weekend and is ninth in the season standings.
In men’s play at the Cape Town Sevens, Canada lost 33-7 to Australia and 21-10 to Kenya and beat Japan 31-14 on the consolation side Sunday to finish 14th to match its placing from the previous week in Dubai. Claremont-grad Anton Ngongo, Oak Bay-product Lachlan Kratz, Matthew Oworu of Pacific Pride, Josiah Morra of Castaway Wanderers, Brock Webster and Kal Sager scored tries for Canada on the busy closing day.
Samoa was the surprising men’s champion in Cape Town. Canada is 13th in the World Series standings following Hong Kong, Dubai and Cape Town and in a battle to remain in the 12-team core group and avoid relegation.
This 2022-23 HSBC World Series season is important with each of the top four men’s and women’s teams earning berths into the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Canada was a men’s quarter-finalist in the Tokyo Olympics under head coach Henry Paul with an experienced squad. The revamped team is working on getting back for Paris 2024 under new head coach and former Canadian star Sean White.
The teams placing out of the top four in the World Series standings will go into regional Olympics qualifiers next year — for Canada it will be in the North American and Caribbean zone — with a last-chance at-large world qualifier on tap after that in the spring of 2024.
“There is pressure to win games and qualify but it’s a long process,” White said.
The HSBC World Series continues Jan. 21-22 with the New Zealand Sevens in Hamilton, N.Z., and the Sydney Sevens in Australia from Jan. 27-29.
