Sunday May 1, 2022 | LANGFORD, BC
News desk | Island Social Trends
Australia won the HSBC Rugby Women’s Sevens tournament this weekend.
The Canadian women’s rugby sevens team held on to secure a fifth-place finish at the World Rugby Sevens Series tournament at Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., with a 12-7 win over the rival Americans today, on day two of the weekend tournament.
Canada advanced to the fifth-place play-off with a 26-19 upset victory over Olympic bronze medalists Fiji in a fifth-place semifinal. That followed a tough 38-0 loss to reigning Olympic champions New Zealand in the quarter-finals.
World No. 1-ranked Australia defeated New Zealand 21-17 in the final to capture gold later on Sunday, while bronze went to Ireland after a 22-14 win over Tokyo silver medallists France.
Australia, who defeated Canada 28-5 on Saturday, also clinched the 2022 HSBC World Sevens Series title with one more stop remaining in France.
The Langford experience:
Local moments for Langford included Mayor Stew Young awarding the trophy to the Australian winning team, and former Canada Women’s Sevens team captain Ghislaine Landry showing off her new baby center-field including a photo-op with the Canadian side.
In the normally temperate Langford, the heavy rain on Saturday morning was a bit of a downer, but weather was better today.
Final stop on May 20-22 in France:
Canada earned a World Cup berth after going unbeaten at the Rugby Americas North Sevens Qualifiers.
The Canadian women will now prepare for the final stop on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Toulouse, France on May 20-22.
“Our goal is Paris 2024 [Olympic Games] and we’re going to keep building until then,” said Canadian veteran Bianca Farella.
“It’s a great experience for the younger athletes. I’m honoured to be playing with them and help bring up the younger generation of athletes in Canada,” Farella told media.
Canada opened the Sevens Series with two eighth-place finishes in back-to-back tournaments in Dubai late in 2021. In the new year, Canada picked up a sixth, then seventh-place finish in two tournaments in Spain.