Canadian rugby women finish 9th at Sydney 7s with wins over Spain, Brazil
Men's squad ties for 15th after losing all five tournament matches in Australia
The Canadian women's rugby sevens team finished ninth at the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Sydney, Australia, following back-to-back victories over Spain and Brazil on Saturday.
The 10th-ranked Canadians rebounded for their first two wins of the tournament after finishing at the bottom of Pool B with an 0-3-0 record.
Canada took down No. 9 Spain 27-10 in a ninth-place semifinal before edging No. 11 Brazil 24-21 in an exciting ninth-place play-off.
Nakisa Levale, Renee Gonzalez and Fancy Bermudez each scored a try as Canada rallied back from a 14-5 halftime deficit. Olivia Apps and Chloe Daniels added conversions.
Canada moved into the consolation bracket after losses to the United States, Great Britain and Fiji in pool play.
The Canadian women improved upon their 11th-place finish from last weekend's stop in Hamilton, New Zealand. The team finished ninth in Dubai before finishing eighth in Cape Town in December.
WATCH | Women's World Rugby Sevens Series Sydney: Canada vs. Brazil:
New Zealand men and women both won their finals on Sunday to extend their leads atop the World Rugby Sevens Series standings.
The New Zealand men blanked South Africa 38-0 to record their fourth straight podium finish in five events this season. Fiji beat France 29-5 in the bronze-medal match.
The All Blacks were runners-up in South Africa and New Zealand and third in Dubai.
The Black Ferns sevens side defeated France 35-0 for their third straight title and four consecutive podium. The U.S. beat Ireland 12-5 to take bronze.
On the men's side, Canada went winless in Sydney with an 0-4-0 record.
The 14th-ranked Canadian men finished at the bottom of Pool A after losing 33-5 to Great Britain earlier on Saturday, and they suffered two more tough losses to close out their tournament.
Canada was overwhelmed by No. 15 Tonga in a ninth-place quarterfinal, trailing 21-0 at halftime en route to a 35-14 loss. The Canadians were then bested in the 13th-place semifinal despite leading 14-0 at halftime, with the 12th-ranked Spaniards claiming a 14-12 comeback victory.
WATCH | Men's World Rugby Sevens Series Sydney: Canada vs. Spain:
The Canadian men finished 14th in Hamilton, Dubai and Cape Town after opening the season with a 10th-place showing in Hong Kong.
The number of men's core teams will be reduced to 12 after this season.
The 15th-ranked core team following the 10th round in Toulouse in May will be relegated. The teams ranked 12th, 13th and 14th at the end of the Toulouse event will take part in a four-team relegation playoff together with the 2023 Challenger Series winner in the final stop of the season in London.
The relegation playoff will be round-robin format with the top two teams then playing a final. The winner will become the 12th core team on the 2024 Series, while the other three teams will enter their respective Regional Sevens Championships in order to qualify for the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series.
The top four men's and women's teams at the end of the season automatically qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
New Zealand, South Africa, Samoa and France top the men's standings after five rounds while New Zealand, Australia, the U.S., and France make up the women's top four after four stops.
Vancouver hosts the Canada Sevens for the men and women March 3-5.
With files from The Canadian Press
