By Canadian Press

Canadian men start hot then hang on to beat Wales at Rugby World Cup Sevens

Sep 10, 2022 | 9:29 AM

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — After falling to Uruguay earlier in the day, the Canadian men survived a 19-point Welsh comeback in the second half to win 33-19 in consolation play at the Rugby World Cup Sevens on Saturday.

Tenth-seeded Canada moved on to face No. 17 Chile on Sunday to decide 13th place in the 24-team men’s field. Chile had advanced in the Challenge portion of the bracket by beating No. 12 Scotland 24-21 in extra time.

The fifth-seeded Canadian women, who downed No. 12 China 24-5 on Friday, faced the fourth-seeded Americans later Saturday in a Championship quarterfinal at Cape Town Stadium. 

The Canadian men had their way early against Wales with a Thomas Isherwood try putting Canada ahead 7-0 in the first minute. Brock Webster raced down the right flank three minutes later to increase the lead to 12-0.

Captain Phil Berna converted a chip-and-chase to score under the posts for a 19-0 lead in the fifth minute. And Alex Russell kept the scoreboard ticking a minute later with a fourth try after Canada won ball at the ensuing kickoff.

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Canada’s Lockie Kratz was sent to the sin bin late in the half for a foul at the breakdown. And the bad blood continued with Welsh and Canadian players getting involved in a melee that resulted in yellow cards for Isherwood and Wales’ Morgan Williams.

Canada, which led 26-0 at the break, was hit by a penalty to start the second half when they fielded one too many men.

With both teams down to six men, Morgan Sieniawski went over for a Welsh try but at a cost as he crashed heavily into the padded goalpost. Another try by Sieniawski cut the Canadian lead to 26-12 with four minutes to go. Callum Carson then outmuscled Russell to cross the line and cut the lead to 26-19.

Webster interrupted the Welsh comeback with a fine individual try, slashing through the Welsh defence after Canada took advantage of a penalty to kick deep into Welsh territory.

The Canadians were beaten 19-12 by No. 18 Uruguay in their Challenge quarterfinal.

Tries by Guillermo Lijtenstein and Baltazar Amaya sandwiched around a Josiah Morra score gave Uruguay a 14-7 lead at halftime. Another Amaya try increased the lead to 19-7 before D’Shawn Bowen scored to cut the deficit to 19-12.

Canada opened men’s play Friday with a 31-7 win over No. 23 Zimbabwe but fell out of the championship side of the draw after a 19-12 loss to No. 7 France in round-of-16 play. 

Uruguay beat No. 15 Hong Kong 19-7 to start, then was blanked 35-0 by No. 2 Australia in round-of-16 play Friday.

Both the men’s and 16-side women’s event feature a “winner take all” format, meaning a single loss takes you out of championship contention. 

The men’s Championship quarterfinals were No. 5 New Zealand versus No. 4 Argentina, No. 7 France versus No. 2 Australia, No. 11 Samoa versus No. 3 Fiji and No. 9 Ireland versus No. 1 South Africa. 

Other women’s Championship quarterfinals were No. 1 Australia versus No. 8 England, No. 2 New Zealand versus No. 7 Ireland and No. 3 France versus No 6 Fiji. 

The Canadian men’s best showing at the Rugby World Cup Sevens was a fifth-place finish in 2001 in Argentina. They were 12th four years ago in San Francisco. 

The Canadian women, runner-up to New Zealand at the 2013 event in Moscow, finished seventh four years ago. 

Both programs have gone through a lot of changes with a spate of retirements after the Tokyo Olympics where the men finished eighth and the women ninth. 

South Africa marks the eighth edition of the men’s World Cup Sevens and the fourth for the women. Canada has qualified for every one of those. 

New Zealand won the last two editions of both the men’s and women’s World Cup Sevens. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2022

The Canadian Press