Canadian women's rugby team finish 5th at Cape Town 7s

Asia Hogan-Rochester scored her fourth try of the day to help Canada finish fifth at the Cape Town Sevens with a 22-7 win over Japan on Sunday in South Africa.

The Olympic silver medallist Canadian women were coming off an eighth-place finish last weekend in Dubai, the opening event of the seven-stop 2025 HSBC SVNS season.

New Zealand, runner-up to Australia in Dubai last week, rallied from an early 12-0 deficit to defeat the United States 26-12 in the women's cup final.

Host South Africa, despite finishing a man down with Siviwe Soyizwapia in the sin-bin, scored 12 points in the second half to defeat France 26-14 in the men's title decider for its first cup win on home soil since 2015.

France beat the Blitzboks 19-5 in the Olympics semifinal this summer en route to the gold medal with South Africa claiming bronze. And the French won again last weekend in Dubai, downing South Africa 17-15 for fifth place.

The U.S women upset Dubai winner Australia 24-19 in semifinal play while New Zealand blanked France 43-0. In the men's semifinals, South Africa defeated Dubai runner-up Spain 19-12 and France downed Fiji 19-17 in a rematch of the Olympic final.

The Fiji men finished third by defeating Spain 47-10 with seven different players scoring tries. The French women, surviving a late red card for a dangerous high tackle, held on to edge Australia 17-14 in the women's third-place match.

The Japan women, who survived a relegation playoff in June to maintain their core status on the circuit, beat Canada twice in Dubai, winning 40-5 in pool play and 24-22 in the seventh-place playoff

But Canada had the upper hand in Cape Town.

Carissa Norsten, captain Piper Logan and Maya Addai also scored tries for Canada, which led 12-0 at the half. Breanne Nicholas kicked a conversion.

Norsten, last season's HSBC SVNS Rookie of the Year, opened the scoring with Canada taking advantage of an overlap after several Japanese errors. Hogan-Rochester scored her fifth try of the weekend just before halftime with Japan down a player with Hana Nagata in the sin-bin for a professional foul.

Fending off a defender, Logan scored in the corner to up the lead to 17-0 early in the second half as Canada took further advantage of having the extra player. Japan pulled a late converted try back from Mayu Yoshino to cut the lead to 17-7 before Addai powered her way over in the final minute for her first-ever try on the circuit.

Canada opened the day with a win over in the fifth-place semifinal with a 27-12 win over Britain with Hogan-Rochester scoring three tries. Carmen Izyk and Logan also scored tried and Nicholas kicked a conversion for Canada, which led 17-5 at the half.

The Canadians finished runner-up in Pool A Saturday, after beating Brazil 43-17 and losing 26-10 to Australia.

HSBC SVNS Core Teams

Women: New Zealand, Australia, France, United States, Canada, Fiji, Ireland, Great Britain, Japan, Brazil, Spain and China.

Men: Argentina, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, France, Fiji, South Africa, Britain, United States, Spain, Uruguay and Kenya.

HSBC SVNS Schedule

Dec. 7-8: Cape Town, DHL Stadium.

Jan. 24-26: Perth, Australia, HBF Park.

Feb. 21-23: Vancouver, B.C. Place Stadium.

March 28-20: Hong Kong, Kai Tak Stadium.

April 5-6: Singapore, National Stadium.

May 3-4: Los Angeles, Dignity Health Sports Park.