The Langford-based Canadian women鈥檚 rugby sevens team and New Zealand continued what could be an inexorable march toward a gold-medal showdown this summer in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
So far, it鈥檚 advantage Kiwis.
New Zealand defeated sa国际传媒 for the second consecutive World Series tournament final, eclipsing the Canucks 33-7 in the championship game of the Sydney Sevens on Sunday. That follows the Black Ferns鈥� victory over sa国际传媒 the week before at home in the final of the New Zealand Sevens.
Still, the back-to-back World Series silvers represent an encouraging lead-up by sa国际传媒 to the Tokyo Summer Games.
sa国际传媒 went 3-0 in round-robin play at Oz before stunning host and 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist Australia 34-0 in the semifinals Saturday. Karen Paquin of the Castaway Wanderers of Oak Bay and Kaili Lukan of Barrie, Ont., were named to the Sydney Sevens all-tournament dream team.
The Canadian men, also based in Langford, finished 10th in the Sydney Sevens. They could not replicate their top-five placing in the New Zealand Sevens the weekend before. sa国际传媒 started in Sydney with a 28-19 victory over Ireland before dropping respective 28-12 and 26-14 decisions to Spain and England on Saturday and being blanked 7-0 by France in the 9th/10th game Sunday.
The Canadian men are tied for ninth with Ireland in the World Series season standings and the Canadian women are tied for second with Australia. Both Canadian national teams have qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, so this World Series season is a big dress rehearsal for that grand stage.
Former University of Victoria Vikes star Nathan Hirayama and Harry Jones of North Vancouver co-captained the Canadian men鈥檚 squad in New Zealand and Oz. Island veterans Connor Braid and Mike Fuailefau, both of Victoria, and Pat Kay of Duncan were also on the Canadian roster along with Isaac Kaay of the UVic Vikes. Of note, former UVic Vikes player Lucas Hammond made his return from injury on sa国际传媒 for the first time since 2018.
All-time World Series career points-leader Ghislaine Landry captained 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist sa国际传媒 in the back-to-back women鈥檚 Antipodean聽tournaments. Also on聽the Canadian roster were three聽players from Island clubs聽鈥� Caroline Crossley and Paquin from Castaway Wanderers and Elissa Alarie of Westshore RFC.
Sydney was the fifth World Series women鈥檚 tournament and fourth for the men.
The sa国际传媒 Sevens stops on the World Series are March 7-8 for the men at sa国际传媒 Place in Vancouver and May 2-3 for the women at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
