NEW ZEALAND 19
CANADA 17
You can never go wrong in rugby by painting it black. The Reds, however, may have something to say about that in Rio.
New Zealand edged Langford-based sa国际传媒 19-17 in pool play Saturday at the women鈥檚 France Sevens in Clermont-Ferrand in what was seen as a potential medal-round match-up this summer at the Olympics. New Zealand is ranked world No. 2 and sa国际传媒 No. 4.
The dynamic Magali Harvey, returning from injury after five months, gave sa国际传媒 the early lead with an electric, field-length try. The Black Ferns rallied for a 12-5 half-time lead before two Canadian tries by Britt Benn took it to the wire.
Earlier in the day, the Canadians defeated Russia 29-12 and Japan 21-15 to finish 2-1 in the pool and advance to a quarter-final this morning against Fiji. It is the 20th consecutive time over four years that sa国际传媒 has made the championship quarter-final round at a World Series event.
This is the final women鈥檚 World Series tournament of the season. sa国际传媒 will then return to Westhills Stadium in Langford and the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence in Saanich for the final training camp and push to Rio.
Women鈥檚 rugby will be contested over the first three days following the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics on Aug. 5, giving the sport a showcase window.
The Langford-based Canadian men鈥檚 sevens team has not yet qualified for Rio and continues its training camp at Westhills Stadium, Goudy Field and PISE in preparation for the last-chance Olympic qualifier June 18-19 at Stade Louis II in Monaco. There will be 16 teams vying for the 12th and final berth in Rio. The qualifier is expected to come down to world No. 9 Samoa, No. 13 sa国际传媒 or No. 14 Russia.
There was practice action Saturday in XVs at Shawnigan Lake School, where the national team men鈥檚 training camp opened, with 35 players invited.
The camp runs on the Island through June 5, in preparation for world No. 18 sa国际传媒鈥檚 upcoming Test series against world No. 10 Japan at sa国际传媒 Place on June 11, against No. 19 Russia at Calgary Rugby Park on June 18 and against No. 14 Italy at BMO Field in Toronto on June 26.
