Canadian women topple Ireland at Canada Sevens, men close tournament with loss
Global News
The women can place fifth in the tournament with a win over Fiji.
Fancy Bermudez scored a pair of tries as the Canadian women defeated Ireland 24-12 Sunday to put themselves in position for their best result this season at the HSBC Canada Sevens tournament.
The women can place fifth in the tournament with a win over Fiji. Their previous best was eighth in Cape Town, South Africa.
“It will give us some good momentum going into the last few stops,” said Bermudez, a back from Edmonton. “It will do a lot.”
The men, who staged an upset over Australia Friday but missed advancing to the quarterfinals due to a points differential, lost 31-14 to South Africa in their only game Sunday and finished in a tie for 15th place.
“It’s a bummer to not come away with points,” said captain Phil Berna.
The poor finish was a blow to a men’s team that came into the tournament sitting 14th in the World Rugby Sevens Series standings and fighting to avoid relegation
The women fell behind 7-0 against Ireland but responded with 24 straight points. The game turned when prop Olivia De Couvreur of Ottawa delivered a crunching hit early in the first half.
“That was a bit monument piece,” said Bermudez. “It really got our energy back up after having a couple unforced errors. We just took that and ran with it.”
