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The Langford-based Canadian men鈥檚 rugby team ran with the best of them at Twickenham in the London Sevens on Saturday and prevailed 22-19 in a stunning upset over 2016 Rio Olympic Games gold-medallist Fiji.
John Moonlight, of James Bay Athletic Association, who, over the course of the day, became only the third Canadian player to score 100 career tries in the HSBC World Series, crossed the goal line for the decisive try as time expired for the dramatic victory over the flash-quick Fijians.
Former University of Victoria Vikes star Nathan Hirayama had scored a key Canadian try moments earlier as sa国际传媒 rallied for the unlikely victory.
sa国际传媒 lost 19-12 to traditional power New Zealand, but defeated Japan 28-14, on three tries by Justin Douglas, to finish the round robin 2-1 and advance to a championship quarter-final match-up against Argentina this morning.
It is the sixth time this season that sa国际传媒 has reached the championship quarter-finals as the national side has recorded a remarkable turnaround under new coach Damian McGrath, after the acute disappointment of failing to qualify for the 2016 Rio Games.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 roster in London consists of Moonlight, Hirayama, Douglas, UVic Vikes players Isaac Kaay, Lucas Hammond and Port Alberni鈥檚 Luke Bradley, Pat Kay of Duncan, St. Michaels University School graduates Mike Fuailefau and Luke McCloskey of Victoria, and Jared Douglas, Harry Jones, Matt Mullins and Adam Zaruba.
London is the final tournament of the 2016-17 men's HSBC World Series.
Eleven female national teams are arriving in Victoria this weekend to join the Langford-based host team in preparation for next weekend鈥檚 sa国际传媒 Sevens, the fifth of six stops on the 2016-17 women鈥檚 HSBC World Series.
The tournament at Westhills Stadium in Langford will feature all three Olympic podium teams from the 2016 Rio Games 鈥� gold-medallist Australia, silver-medallist New Zealand and bronze-medallist sa国际传媒.
The sa国际传媒 Sevens has a capacity for 6,430 over two days next Saturday and Sunday.
Fans are encouraged to go to canadasevens.com as limited tickets remain.
