CANADA ENDS 2016 WITH VICTORIES OVER SAMOA AND UGANDA TO FINISH 13TH IN SOUTH AFRICA

Earlier in the day, Canada lost 42-14 to France in their challenge trophy quarterfinal to open Day 2 but rebounded to beat Samoa 26-24. The Canadian team is playing with just ten players after an injury-filled day one knocked Nathan Hirayama, Phil Berna and Liam Underwood out of action.

The series returns January 28-29 at the Wellington Sevens.

CANADA 14-42 FRANCE

France ran in seven tries in a dominant performance in the challenge trophy quarterfinal. Pierre Lakafia got the scoring underway for France before Terry Bouhraoua grabbed a pair of tries to push the lead to 21-0. France got a fourth first half try after Adam Zaruba was sinbinned for a high tackle near the goal line resulting in a penalty try.

Bouhraoua completed his hat-trick and Jonathan Laugel made it 42-0 early in the second half before Canada finally got on the board through Josiah Morra, who took a handoff from John Moonlight under the posts for his first HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series try. Canada got its second try as time expired through Mike Fuailefau. Bouhraoua passed the 1,000 point mark in his career during France’s emphatic win.

CANADA 26-24 SAMOA

Canada came from 17-0 down to collect a memorable win over Samoa.

Trailing by three tries courtesy of Ed Fidow, Lafaele Vaa and Alamanda Motuga inside the opening four minutes, Canada finally hit back through Justin Dougas to cut the deficit to 17-7. However, a Samoa Toloa try right before the break pushed the Samoan lead back to 17 points but Douglas would again answer leaving Samoa ahead 24-14 at the break.

Canada came storming out in the second half as Adam Zaruba netted his first try of Day 2 before Pat Kay’s try under the posts with less than a minute left, that he converted himself, ensured a 26-24 win.

CANADA 19-10 UGANDA

Canada claimed 13th place after a three-try win over Uganda for the second consecutive week. Adam Zaruba and Justin Douglas got Canada going with tries inside the opening four minutes before Ramathan Govle replied for Uganda to make it 12-5 at the break.

Uganda cut into Canada’s lead as Lawrence Ssebuliba dotted down but Luke McCloskey’s first ever series try with two minutes left sealed the Canadian win.

Canada’s Roster for the Cape Town Sevens (Name, club, hometown):

Phil Berna – (UBC Thunderbirds) Vancouver, BC

Justin Douglas – (Abbotsford RFC/BC Bears) Abbotsford, BC

Mike Fuailefau – (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) Victoria, BC

Nathan Hirayama – (UVic Vikes/BC Bears) Richmond, BC

Caleb Jordan – (Montreal Wanderers) Montreal, QC

Pat Kay – (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) Duncan, BC

Karsten Leitner – (UBC Thunderbirds) Vancouver, BC

Luke McCloskey – (Castaway Wanderers) Victoria, BC

John Moonlight – (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Pickering, ON

Josiah Morra – Toronto Saracens (Toronto, ON) 

Matt Mullins – (Queen’s University/Ontario Blues) Belleville, ON

Liam Underwood – (Balmy Beach RFC/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON

Adam Zaruba – (Capilano RFC/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC

Coaching Staff:

Head Coach – Damian McGrath

Assistant Coach – Lee Douglas

Physiotherapist – Danielle Mah

Analyst – Calum Ramsay

Manager – Brian Hunter

Canada’s Day 1 Schedule:

Canada 10-33 England 

Canada 19-19 New Zealand 

Canada 14-43 Argentina

Canada’s Day 2 Schedule:

Canada 12-42 France 

Canada 26-24 Samoa

Canada 19-10 Uganda

About Rugby Canada

Rugby Canada is the national governing body of the sport of rugby union in Canada. Rugby Football has a long history in Canada dating back to its initial appearance in the 1860s. Since 1974, Rugby Canada has been a permanent fixture on the global rugby scene, including trips to each of the eight Men’s Rugby  World Cups and seven Women’s Rugby World Cups. As a regular on the Men’s and Women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, Canada continues to climb the world rankings and challenge the dominant rugby nations in both versions of the game. Canada’s Women’s Rugby Sevens Team also made history in 2016, capturing the first-ever Bronze Medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

To support the growth of rugby at the grass-roots level and to ensure there are elite programs for prospering young rugby players to become involved with, Rugby Canada has put an emphasis on developing its junior programs.  Our goal is to develop and train competitive teams for the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland, the 2018 Sevens World Cup in San Francisco, the 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan and 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

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