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The Langford-based Canadian rugby sevens teams discovered just why the Fijian men and Australian women stood atop the Olympic podium last summer in Rio de Janeiro.
The 2016 Olympic bronze-medallist Canadian women were beaten 26-19 by the Aussies in the USA Sevens semifinals Saturday in Las Vegas. sa国际传媒, however, regrouped to win the bronze medal with a 31-7 victory over the host United States to entrench its No. 3 world ranking.
The 12th-ranked Canadian men did well in Sin City to make the quarter-finals of the USA Sevens before meeting their match in the lightning-quick Fijians, who sprinted to a 31-12 victory to relegate sa国际传媒 to the consolation side of the NBC-broadcast tournament today.
The Aussie women avenged their stinging semifinal loss at home to the eventual-champion Canadians last month in the Sydney Sevens. sa国际传媒, however, could be fairly satisfied with its USA Sevens bronze medal Saturday after going 3-0 in pool play and blanking France 33-0 in the quarter-finals.
鈥淲e played some really good rugby,鈥� Canadian coach John Tait of Mill Bay said in a statement.
鈥淲e just made a few too many mistakes against Australia and they showed their class and why they are gold medal Olympic champions. They punish you for errors. I was pleased with the way we came back and responded with a really good performance against the U.S.鈥�
Canadian captain Ghislaine Landry led the tournament in scoring with 66 points and now heads the entire World Series season with 131 points.
鈥淓very game, except for our semifinal, was a really good team performance,鈥� the fleet Landry. said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to win gold. It鈥檚 such a competitive series. [We] made too many mistakes in the semifinal and it cost us.鈥�
Caroline Crossley of Victoria, a 19-year-old Oak Bay grad, scored her first two international tries Saturday.
On the men's side, the 2017 USA Sevens will be remembered for John Moonlight surpassing Phil Mack of Victoria to become sa国际传媒鈥檚 all-time men鈥檚 caps leader with 53.
The Canucks finished 2-1 in pool play with wins over Wales and France after an opening loss to Rio Olympics bronze-medallist South Africa.
Ring Road meets The Strip as there is a heavy University of Victoria flavour to the sa国际传媒 roster in Vegas with Vikes players or alumni Luke Bradley of Port Alberni, Pat Kay of Duncan, Lucas Hammond, Nathan Hirayama and Isaac Kay playing.
The Blue Jags are also well represented with St. Michaels University School grads and Castaway Wanderers Mike Fuailefau, who scored the game-winning try against Wales at the death, and Luke McCloskey playing for sa国际传媒.
Both the 10-event men鈥檚 and six-event women鈥檚 2016-17 World Series seasons feature Canadian stops.
The men鈥檚 sa国际传媒 Sevens is next Saturday and Sunday at sa国际传媒 Place, with more than 33,000 fans to be in attendance each day. The women鈥檚 sa国际传媒 Sevens is May 27-28 at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
