The schedule makers didn’t do Langford-based sa国际传媒 any favours in the HSBC World Series Singapore Sevens by having the Canucks open against Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics champion Fiji on Saturday. Feisty sa国际传媒 put up a fight and kept the scoreline a credible 21-12 in the loss to the flash-quick Fijians.
Buoyed by that effort, sa国际传媒 returned to the pitch to beat Spain 21-7 as Oak Bay Secondary grad Lachlan Kratz kicked two conversions and Brennig Prevost, a University of Victoria Vikes player out of Glenlyon Norfolk School, kicked another. David Richard and Kal Sagar scored tries for sa国际传媒 in both the Fiji and Spain games.
A highlight for sa国际传媒 in the Spain matchup was Max Stewart scoring his first career try in an HSBC World Series game. That followed Will Percillier of Mill Bay, out of Brentwood College, scoring his first World Series try last week in the Hong Kong Sevens.
World No. 14 sa国际传媒 concluded group play in Singapore with a 39-7 loss to Samoa with the Islander Kratz scoring all the Canadian points on a try and conversion. Samoa had upset Fiji earlier in group play to win the pool as both Samoa and Fiji advanced the championship quarter-finals.
sa国际传媒 dropped to the consolation round, where it lost to Kenya 28-14 in a ninth-place quarter-final late Saturday.
“It’s been the story of the season with big swings between our highs and lows,” interim sa国际传媒 head coach Sean White of Victoria said in a statement heading into the Singapore Sevens.
“When we believe in each other and fight tooth and nail for the guy next to us, we can reach more of those highs. That’s the aim as we progress — to continue to fight for each other and put us in the best situation to compete for wins in a very competitive and challenging series. The belief is growing.”
There is no women’s section in the Singapore Sevens. The world No. 8 Canadian women, also based in Langford, next play in the World Series France Sevens in Toulouse from May 12 to 14.
Both the Canadian men and women are gearing up for the North American and Caribbean qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to be held Aug. 19-20 at Starlight Stadium. The announcement that sa国际传媒 will have home-field advantage in the regional Olympic qualifier for Paris was made last week at Starlight Stadium.
“This was a big week for our program with the announcement that Langford will host for an Olympic position, We have one more stop in the Series in Toulouse before heading back home to aim to punch our ticket to the Olympic Games,” said Canadian head coach Jack Hanratty.
