By Canadian Press

Canada opens rugby sevens in Vancouver with victory over Germany

Sep 18, 2021 | 3:04 PM

VANCOUVER — Brennig Prevost scored a try and set up another on a pretty play to Phil Berna as Canada opened the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series with a convincing 24-5 win over Germany on Saturday.

The Canadian women’s sevens team fell 22-12 to the United States.

In his World Rugby Sevens debut, Victoria’s Prevost assisted on Berna’s opening try of the game. Prevost kicked a ball into the end zone where the Canadian captain was able to get a hand on it.

“It was half set, half off the cuff,” Vancouver’s Berna said. “Brenning kind of yelled at me. I said I would be there and got there just in time.”

Berna was a member of the Canadian squad that placed eighth in Tokyo’s Olympics in August.

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Toronto’s Josiah Morra produced a pair of tries, while Prevost also kicked two converts Saturday.

“We knew we had good young guys coming off the bench,” Berna said “We had to set that platform. We wanted to provide a good structure for them.”

Germany, coached by former Canadian men’s coach Damian McGrath, trailed 24-0 at the half.

“We didn’t touch the ball once in the first half and you can’t play without the ball,” McGrath lamented. “Canada made us chase and sucked the life out of us.”

In the opening match of the women’s Fast Four competition, Canada led 12-5 before giving up 17 second-half points to the U.S.

“Sevens comes down to fitness and those extra couple of metres,” said Canadian captain Oliva Apps of Victoria.

“The U.S. really took it to us. They found our weaknesses in the defensive line and used them perfectly to keep possession and score.”

Emma Chown of Barrie, Ont., scored two tries. Chloe Daniels of Sutton, Ont., kicked two converts.

In other men’s games, Ireland defeated Hong Kong 17-14, Great Britain beat Jamaica 24-5, Kenya downed Spain 15-5, the U.S thumped Chile 33-5 and the South Africa routed Mexico 53-0.

In women’s play, Great Britain blanked Mexico 39-0.

The tournament is the first HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournament since the COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on the circuit in March of 2020.

The Canadian men had finished third in the last tournament played in Vancouver.

Attendance at BC Place Stadium was capped at 13,500 in the lower bowl because of COVID, but that didn’t deter fans from dressing for the event.

Scattered among the crowd were wizards in tall hats, a bunch of yellow bananas, different varieties of furry creatures, several pirates, a group dressed like canned clams, what looked like a bottle of ketchup, some Mounties, a blue shark and several people in loud Hawaiian shirts.

The tournament features just a dozen men’s sides instead of the normal 16. Powerhouse countries New Zealand, Fiji, Australia and Samoa skipped Vancouver.

The Canadian men are in a pool with the U.S., Chile and Germany.

Several Canadian veterans including Nate Hirayama, Connor Braid, Justin Douglas and Conor Trainor retired in the weeks after Tokyo.

Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Britain comprise the women’s “Fast Four” in Vancouver. They play each other with the top two playing for the title and the other two squaring off for third.

World Rugby says there will be no relegation from the 2021 Series and the results will not count toward seedings for future events.

The two-day tournament ends Sunday. Both Canadian teams head to Edmonton next week for the next stop in the series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2021.

Jim Morris, The Canadian Press