Rugby Canada – Canada goes 3-0 on day two, defeating Fiji, England and world number one ranked Australia en route to winning second ever HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series stop in France less than three months ahead of Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games

CLERMONT-FERRAND, FRANCE – In the final stop of the season, Canada’s women’s sevens team has claimed their second ever Women’s Sevens World Series title after winning the Clermont-Ferrand Sevens with a 29-19 win over Australia. With the win, Canada earned 20 series points and jumped ahead of England into third place in the overall standings.

Canada has now finished third, third, second and third in the first four seasons of the WSWS. Their cup title comes just three months before the team heads to Brazil for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games. The Australians clinched the 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series title earlier in the day. Earlier in the day Canada beat Fiji 12-5 in the Cup Quarterfinals, then defeated England 31-10 in the Cup Semifinals.
 
CANADA 12-5 FIJI (Cup Quarterfinals)
 
Ghislaine Landry provided the points while the rest of her team provided the defence as Canada came away with a well-deserved Cup Quarterfinals 12-5 win over Fiji. It was a perfect start to the match for Canada, as Landry touched down with a try just 30 seconds in.
 
Magali Harvey then showed off her speed and strength, making two try-saving tackles for Canada, preventing the Fijians from getting any sort of momentum heading into the break. After Karen Paquin made another try-line tackle for Canada, Landry added her second try of the match, giving Canada a 12-0 lead. Fiji was finally able to penetrate the Canadian defence in the final minute, but it was too little too late as Canada came away with the 12-5 victory.
 
CANADA 31-10 ENGLAND (Cup Semifinals)
 
Canada put in their best performance of the weekend, advancing to the Clermont-Ferrand Sevens Cup Final with an impressive 31-10 victory over England. Canada was led on offence by Ghislaine Landry, who scored a hat trick in the win.
 
After England opened the scoring with a try in the second minute, Canada responded by scoring 19 unanswered points, most of which came from Landry. The Toronto native scored two first half tries as Canada took a 12-5 lead into the half.
 
Led by Britt Benn and Magali Harvey on defence, Canada continued to make timely, hard tackles as England struggled to get deep into Canadian territory. After Karen Paquin extended Caanda’s lead to 19-5, England picked up their first score in over 10 minutes to cut the lead to 19-10. After Landry picked up her third try of the match, Bianca Farella added some insurance in the final seconds.
 
CANADA 29-19 AUSTRALIA (Cup Final)
 
Canada captured their second ever series title with a 29-19 win over the series champions. Magali Harvey opened the scoring for Canada in the third minute and Kelly Russell followed with a try of her own two minutes later to give Canada an early 14-0 lead.
 
After Australia responded with a try of their own, it was Canada scoring back-to-back tries before the half ended as Ghislaine Landry and Britt Benn touched down for Canada who led 26-7 after the first 10 minutes. With half’s extended to 10 minutes in the Cup Final, there was plenty time left in the match for Australia to cut away at the lead.
 
The Wallaroos scored a try on either side of a Landry yellow card and Canada’s lead was cut to 26-19 with three minutes remaining. However, Canada retained possession in the closing minutes and Landry converted a penalty in the final moments to give Canada their first title of the season.
 
Canada’s Roster for the Clermont-Ferrand Sevens (name, club and hometown):
 
Britt Benn – (Guelph Redcoats) Napanee, ON
Hannah Darling – (Peterborough Pagans) Warsaw, ON
Bianca Farella – (Town of Mont Royal RFC) Montreal, QC
Magali Harvey – (Club de Rugby Quebec) Quebec City, QC 
Jen Kish – (Edmonton Rockers) Edmonton, AB
Ghislaine Landry – (Toronto Scottish) Toronto, ON 
Megan Lukan – (Unattached) Barrie, ON
Kayla Moleschi – (Williams Lake Rustlers) Williams Lake, BC
Karen Paquin – (Club de Rugby Quebec) Quebec City, QC
Kelly Russell – (Toronto Nomads) Bolton, ON
Natasha Watcham-Roy – (Hull Volant) Gatineau, QC
Charity Williams – (Markham Irish) Toronto, ON
 
Canada’s Coaching Staff:
 
Meaghan Howat – Manager
John Tait – Head Coach
Sandro Fiorino – Assistant Coach
Sandeep Nandhra – Athletic Therapist
Tyler Goodale – Strength & Conditioning
Callum Morris – Analyst
 
Canada’s Clermont-Ferrand Sevens Day 1 Schedule:
 
Canada 21-5 Japan
Canada 29-12 Russia
Canada 17-19 New Zealand

Canada’s Clermont-Ferrand Sevens Day 2 Schedule:
 
Canada 12-5 Fiji
Canada 31-10 England
Canada 29-19 Australia
 
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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.

 

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 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Tokyo, Japan respectively, the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland and 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan. 

 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/RugbyCanada

Facebook: www.facebook.com/RugbyCanada

YouTube: www.youtube.com/RugbyCanada

Instagram: www.instagram.com/RugbyCanada  

Website: www.rugbycanada.ca 

 

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For more information, please contact:

 

Bryan Kelly, Rugby Canada

Manager, Communications and Media Relations

Phone: 250-216-5272

Email: bkelly@rugbycanada.ca