Canada's rugby 7s teams clinch World Cup berths at qualifier in Bahamas
CBC Sports | Posted: April 24, 2022 3:50 PM | Last Updated: April 24, 2022
Men's and women's squads both win tournament finals
Canada's men's and women's rugby sevens teams both clinched World Cup berths and won their respective finals at the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens Qualifiers on Sunday in Nassau, Bahamas.
The men's squad capped off the tournament with a 29-12 win over Jamaica, while the women cruised past Mexico with a 33-0 victory.
The Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament is scheduled for Sept. 9-11 in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Canadian men opened the day with a 38-14 quarter-final victory over Barbados, and then followed it up with a 41-0 semifinal win over Mexico to lock up a World Cup spot.
Canada only needed to make it to the final of the 15-team tournament to qualify.
The Canadian women punched their ticket to the World Cup by winning the final of the six-team tournament against Mexico.
The women's team was riding momentum after claiming a whopping 71-0 victory over the Cayman Islands in its final pool match.
Olivia Apps, Keyara Wardley, Fancy Bermudez, Asia Hogan Rochester, Krissy Scurfield, Chloe Daniels, and Bianca Farella all ran in tries in the win.
They went 3-0 on Saturday with wins over Mexico, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
In Canada's opening men's game on Sunday, Jake Thiel, Phil Berna, Cooper Coats, Thomas Isherwood, Nick Allen and Brock Webster all contributed tries in the runaway win against Barbados.
In the men's semifinal, Thiel and Isherwood each added another try for the day, while Elias Ergas and Anton Ngongo both scored twice. Jarvis Dashkewytch ran one in as well.
On Saturday, the Canadian men came out of Pool A play undefeated with a 36-0 win over the British Virgin Islands and a 33-5 triumph over Trinidad and Tobago.
Both Canadian teams pre-qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, which begin July 28.