Depth and balance carried the Langford-based Canadian men鈥檚 rugby team to the bronze medal on home turf Sunday in the sa国际传媒 Sevens at a raucous sa国际传媒 Place.
It wasn鈥檛 surprising to see co-captain Nathan Hirayama, a former University of Victoria Vikes great, and Harry Jones of West Vancouver named to the all-tournament Dream Team. But beside them was previously unheralded Isaac Kaay of the UVic Vikes, named DHL Impact Player of the tournament.
Also punctuating the tournament with fine plays at key moments were veteran Canadian players Mike Fuailefau and Connor Braid, both of Victoria, and Pat Kay of Duncan, as sa国际传媒 moved from 10th to eighth in the overall World Series season standings after six of the 12 tournaments.
鈥淚t feels good,鈥� said Braid, a graduate of Oak Bay High, whose sublime off-loads led to several Canadian tries.
鈥淲e鈥檙e building and trending up this year.鈥�
Fuailefau agreed.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of confidence,鈥� said the St. Michaels University School graduate, whose rare combination of power and speed was evident all weekend.
Cowichan Secondary Thunderbirds graduate Kay broke across for a couple of tries at opportune moments for sa国际传媒 on Saturday, as did Justin Douglas of Abbotsford on Sunday in the latter鈥檚 second tournament back after a long rehab from injury.
sa国际传媒 knocked off both the 2016 Rio Olympic gold-medallist Fijians and Rio bronze-medallist South Africans over the weekend en route to the podium at sa国际传媒 Place.
鈥淚t definitely feels like we鈥檙e growing and building a platform for this summer,鈥� said Hirayama, referring to the 2020 Olympics, for which sa国际传媒 has qualified.
鈥淚t was a great step leading to Tokyo this summer. We look at ourselves and we have a lot of belief as a team.鈥�
sa国际传媒 defeated France 31-14 and then shocked Olympicchampion Fiji 26-21 before beating Wales 29-7 in going undefeated in pool play Saturday. sa国际传媒 followed up Sunday by blanking Spain 21-0 in the quarter-finals before falling literally an inch short in the agonizing 19-14 semifinal loss to Australia, when Theo Sauder鈥檚 try attempt on the final play of the game was touched down just shy of the goal line. The outstretched Canuck couldn鈥檛 have come any closer without scoring.
Instead of getting into an emotional funk because of the narrowest of semifinal losses, a re-energized sa国际传媒 rebounded to beat world No. 2 South Africa 26-19 in the bronze-medal game for its first victory over the Blitzboks since 2013. It was the second-best showing ever in the World Series for sa国际传媒 after winning in 2017 at Singapore, and the best result since fourth-place finishes in 2018 at Paris and Cape Town.
The boisterous crowds, 74,456 fans over two days with many from the Island packing the ferries, had a lot to do with it.
鈥淭he crowd was huge for us. It definitely helped,鈥� said Braid.
All the Canadian players felt the electric crackle from the stands.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievable to have 40,000 Canadian fans [per day] cheering for you,鈥� said Fuailefau.
鈥淭he crowd was fantastic.鈥�
Hirayama agreed: 鈥淚t was amazing to hear O sa国际传媒 at halftime. The crowd support was fantastic and lifted us.鈥�
The weekend concluded with the evocatively haunting sounds of the Haka wafting across sa国际传媒 Place following New Zealand鈥檚 17-14 victory over Australia in the championship game.
There was nothing to save it for on the weekend. The Hong Kong and Singapore Sevens, originally scheduled for next month, have been postponed to October because of the coronavirus. Hong Kong is the marquee event of the World Series 鈥� with even more vibrancy and bigger crowds than sa国际传媒 Place 鈥� but it will have to wait until the fall.
鈥淎ll the teams look forward to Hong Kong. But we trust the decision makers. Safety first,鈥� said Hirayama.
That has altered the overall Canadian strategy for the year.
鈥淲ith the Asia leg of the World Series pushed back to the fall, we have a long break and so a long training block coming up back in Langford,鈥� noted Hirayama.
鈥淓verything is built around peaking for this summer at the Olympics in Tokyo.鈥�
Canadian head coach Henry Paul has roster decisions to make for the Olympics, although the nucleus of the squad looks to be set.
鈥淚t鈥檚 their performances that get players in and out of the squad,鈥� Paul said.
He got a lot of good ones over the weekend from his charges.
With an unexpected gap to the London Sevens at Twickenham on May 23-24 and Paris Sevens on May 30-31, Paul said sa国际传媒 will try to get in some games this spring, mentioning a possible tour to South America to play Argentina.
The Canadian women鈥檚 sevens team has also qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 2016 Rio Olympic bronze-medallists will host the female sa国际传媒 Sevens May 2-3 at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
