Canadian men's rugby 7s squad falls short in Singapore
Team drops must-win pool game, relegated to consolation bracket
The Canadian men's rugby sevens team's title defence came up short in Singapore after dropping a must-win pool game 22-19 to Samoa at the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Canada entered its final pool match needing a win to guarantee a spot in the Cup quarter-finals and a chance to repeat as champions. The team started off the tournament with a 26-14 win over Argentina before falling 26-12 to South Africa.
Canada opened the match with two quick tries to lead 14-0 before conceding three Samoan scores to fall behind. The Canadians responded with a last-minute try to end the half with a 19-17 advantage, but failed to score in the second half thanks to some resolute — albeit unconventional — defence from Samoa.
Samoa capitalized on the next possession to take the lead, with the Canadians conceding a late penalty to seal their fate. Canada will play France in the Challenge Trophy consolation bracket quarters; it's the seventh time Canada has been relegated over the eight Series events this season.
The tournament is also the team's first since the retirement of longtime captain John Moonlight.
"They were games we should have won and we gave away scores," said Canada coach Damian McGrath. "That's the reason we're in the bottom half of the table for the moment because we just haven't gotten that consistency."
🎥 Reaction: <a href="https://twitter.com/RugbyCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RugbyCanada</a>’s Head Coach Damian McGrath spoke to us after his sides chance to defend their <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Singapore7s?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Singapore7s</a> title is over <a href="https://t.co/GA5n5bfQLz">pic.twitter.com/GA5n5bfQLz</a>
—@WorldRugby7sThe Cup quarterfinals consist of Fiji versus New Zealand, South Africa versus Kenya, Australia versus Spain and England versus Samoa.
CBC Sports will stream the event live from April 27-29.
With files from The Canadian Press