The Langford-based Canadian team took more than 40,000 spectators on a whirlwind ride on Saturday in the sa国际传媒 Sevens that had more twists and dips than the PNE roller-coaster.
The only thing wilder was the dress regime of the fans amid the cacophonous atmosphere inside sa国际传媒 Place Stadium. There were Riddlers, Jokers, Waldos, Santas, popes, nuns, Princess Leias, Leprechauns, men in Wonder Woman outfits, Mounties, lumberjacks, Vikings with Helga braids, Blues Brothers and Bhangra drummers galore. But the Donald Trump entourage, dressed in orange jump suits, took the cake. Even Don Cherry would appear hopelessly muted in a rugby sevens crowd.
sa国际传媒 followed up a flat 38-7 opening blowout loss to Samoa with a pulsating 26-19 upset victory over 2016 Rio Olympic-champion Fiji that had the crowd 鈥攊ncluding thousands of Fijian fans 鈥� in an uproar.
鈥淲e frustrated the Fijians and didn鈥檛 allow them to get their flair going,鈥� said Canadian player Connor Braid of Victoria.
鈥淭he crowd helped us, too.鈥�
In a poignant moment after scoring a try against Fiji, Braid lifted his Canadian jersey to reveal the logo DJ-9. It was in honour of Braid鈥檚 late friend, Dylan Jones, of Victoria, who died of cancer in 2017 at the age of 27. Jones, who wore No. 9, and Braid were teammates at Oak Bay High and in club play.
鈥淚t meant a lot because Dylan鈥檚 family was in the crowd,鈥� said Braid.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a reminder to myself why we鈥檙e playing the game.鈥�
Braid then scored three tries in a 36-21 victory over Kenya. That left Fiji, Samoa and sa国际传媒 at 2-1 and Kenya 0-3 after pool play. Fiji and Samoa advanced to the championship round today on tiebreakers, while sa国际传媒 was relegated to the consolation round in a bitter blow to the host nation.
Canadian head coach Damian McGrath reflected on the emotional day and sa国际传媒鈥檚 鈥渋nconsistency.鈥�
鈥淭he Samoa game was the worst I have been a part of in my three years of coaching sa国际传媒, followed by us beating the Olympic champions [Fiji],鈥� he said.
鈥淎nd now we鈥檙e suffering [relegation to the consolation side and a game against Spain this morning] because of that poor display against Samoa. But that鈥檚 rugby.鈥�
sa国际传媒 features Island players Braid, SMUS-grads Mike Fuailefau and Luke McCloskey, all of Victoria, Pat Kay of Duncan and Isaac Kaay of the University of Victoria Vikes. The host team is captained by UVic Vikes legend Nathan Hirayama.
Fuailefau reflected on playing in his home province.
鈥淭he noise was deafening, and you look up to see family and friends from the Island in the stands, and you want to go out and play well for them.鈥�
The top four teams in the 10-event 2018-19 World Series will advance directly to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The top four heading into sa国际传媒 Place were the U.S., New Zealand, Fiji and England. The Canadians are currently 11th in the season standings and will likely bank their hopes on Tokyo 2020 qualification through the North American and Caribbean Olympic qualifier in July 鈥� a path that will get easier if the U.S. nabs one of the four automatic Olympic qualifying berths out of the World Series this year. There is also the last-chance, all-world repechage next year.
The top four women鈥檚 teams in their 2019 World Series season will also advance directly to Tokyo 2020. The 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Canadians are third in the standings after the first three of six World Series events. The fifth women鈥檚 World Series tournament will be the sa国际传媒 Sevens from May 11-12 at a revamped 6,000-seat Westhills Stadium in Langford.
