Rugby Canada – Canada finished day one of HSBC London Sevens with win, draw and loss against Samoa, USA and South Africa at Twickenham; Will face Brazil in Bowl Quarter-Final tomorrow on final day of 2015-2016 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

LONDON, ENGLAND – Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team finished Day One of the HSBC London Sevens with one loss, one win and a draw in their pool play against South Africa, Samoa and USA. That means they narrowly miss out on Sunday’s Cup action and will instead move into the Bowl competition where they face Brazil tomorrow in the final day of the 2015-2016 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

All London Sevens games can be watched LIVE at worldrugby.org.

Canada 7-21 South Africa

Canada gave a good account of themselves against Series heavyweights South Africa, eventually losing 21-7 in London.

In their first game at Twickenham, the final tournament of the 2015/16 circuit, Liam Middleton’s squad were tenacious in defence and made life difficult for the Blitzboks, who were limited to three scores which they had to work very hard for.

Ryan Kankowski opened their account early on with a try that saw him gallop down the left wing before he went under the posts, but Canada came extremely close to levelling when Conor Trainor was inches from regathering his own kick ahead. South Africa doubled their cushion soon after though thanks to Kankowski’s second, with Cecil Afrika landing the extras.

After the break it was the Blitzboks who crossed first when Francois Hougaard slipped a tackle from two metres out, but Canada would have the final say in the game when John Moonlight showed decent pace to go over for a deserved score.

Canada 24-19 Samoa

Canada got back to winning ways on the World Sevens Series after they edged Paris champions Samoa in Game Two. They started superbly when Justin Douglas cut in off his wing from the left to wrong foot the Samoan defence for 7-0.

However, the winners of last weekend’s tournament soon responded through Belgium Tuatagaloa, who spotted a gap in the Canadian defence and raced through it. That levelled up the scores in what was turning into an end-to-end contest. Before the break Canada would score again as Conor Trainor went over from distance and it was a deserved 14-7 lead.

Samoa crossed first in the second-half when Tuatagaloa was over for his brace on nine minutes but crucially the extras were missed and Canada made sure they were next to score points, with the busy Trainor pushing them 19-12 in front. With two minutes left Canada made sure of victory when Mike Fuailefau scored, meaning Samoa’s late try was in vain.

Canada 12-12 USA

Canada were cruelly denied a place in Sunday’s Cup competition after they could not beat USA in their final pool game. Despite leading at half-time, Canada could not see off the States as the tied result means Mike Friday’s side progress.

It was a tight opening to the game and the first try would only arrive on six minutes when Perry Baker crossed for 5-0. Canada though hit back just before the break through Trainor and with Harry Jones kicking the conversion, they led 7-5.

They started the second period in decent form but unfortunately Baker showed his pace on a counter attack to push USA back in front at 12-7 with eleven minutes played in what was a pulsating clash to finish the opening day for both nations. Canada responded and a long-range try from Matt Mullins left Jones with a difficult kick to win. However he was off-target with a minute remaining before USA held on for the draw that was good enough for them to make the Cup quarter-finals.

Canada’s Roster for the HSBC London Sevens (Name, club, hometown):

Phil Berna – (UBC Thunderbirds), Vancouver, BC

Admir Cejvanovic – (Burnaby Lake RFC/BC Bears) Burnaby, BC

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

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

Lucas Hammond – (Toronto Nomads/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON

Harry Jones – (Capilano RFC/BC Bears) West Vancouver, BC

Phil Mack – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC

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

Matt Mullins – (Queens University/Ontario Blues) Belleville, ON

Conor Trainor – (UBCOB Ravens/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC

Sean White – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC

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

Senior Men’s Team Staff: 

Liam Middleton – Head Coach

Lee Douglas – Assistant Coach

Brian Hunter – Manager

Danielle Mah – Physiotherapist

Calum Ramsay – Performance Analyst

Canada’s Day 1 HSBC London Sevens Schedule:

Canada 7-21 South Africa

Canada 24-19 Samoa

Canada 12-12 USA

Canada’s Day 2 HSBC London Sevens Schedule:

Canada vs. Brazil – 4:30am ET/1:30am PT

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

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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