After two weekends of fantastic rugby, The HSBC sevens circuit will now take a month break. Hong Kong once again was the most exciting tournament of the year and Tokyo was also a very good tournament.
Starting in Tokyo, Canada had once again a great tournament. Qualifying once again for the Cup quarterfinals! After a hard fought game against a very strong England side, Canada came up short by a score of 14 – 10. Canada did play very well, but what let them down was a called off try by the referee that would of put them up 15 – 14. While it was a controversial decision, the referee always gets the final say and the try was not awarded.
Losing in the cup quarterfinals meant that they would play their neighbours, USA. USA was having their best tournament of the season, and they where not ready to end it. Despite being in the lead at half time, the US came back to beat Canada 28 – 15. What let Canada down in the second half was their defense. Canada missed too many tackles and where not able to contain the US. Losing to USA, meant their tournament was over and they would have to wait until next weekend in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is always the best tournament of the year. Last year I had the opportunity to go to the Hong Kong sevens, and the crowd in Hong Kong is always amazing. Thanks to the Canadian Rugby Sevens fund, Canada had a home crowd atmosphere in Hong Kong.
Supoortive crowds are always very important and Canada was motivated to do well for all their supporters. Canada once again qualified for yet another cup quarterfinal. They would play a very talented Australian side. Ciaran Hearn put Canada up 12 – 7 with one minute left, but Australia got the ball after the restart and scored a quick try to break Canada’s heart. The final score was 14 – 12. Canada was looking so strong against Australia, but the reason they lost was because they committed too many errors and the fact that by the end of the game they had no gas left.
Losing to Australia, meant they would once again be in the plate semi-finals. Canada was up against Wales. This was wales first cup quarterfinal with their new coach Gareth Williams, and it looks as if the team are now on the same page. Wales came out of the gate flying scoring a quick try. Canada went into the half down 19 – 7, but sadly it was all down hill from there. The final score was 31 – 14. Canada simply did not look alive and struggled with their defense and offense.
Canada received 20 points in Tokyo and Hong Kong and they have now moved from 9th to 7th on the international sevens standings. The Canadians now have a month off to train and take a breather. Canada’s pool for Glasgow consists off England, France and Japan.
Please help support Canadian Rugby 7s Fund at http://www.canada7sfund.com
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