Canadians looks flat in 19-0 loss to Scotland in Vancouver

VANCOUVER — Canada is down to its last life at the The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Sevens Rugby tournament. The Canadians looked flat in a 19-0 loss to previously winless Scotland in a consolation round match Sunday morning in Vancouver. Another loss will eliminate the Canadians from play. The best they can finish is 13th out of the 16 teams. Things started badly for Canada against Scotland and continued to get worse. Mental lapses resulted in Canada making eight errors and giving the ball away 12 times. Head coach Damian McGrath was left shaking his head. His same team had played smart and been competitive in three games during Saturday’s opening day of competition. “I think that’s as bad as it’s been in the couple of years I’ve been here,” he said. “As good as we were yesterday we were poor today. “That’s been the story of our season so far. For every high we manage to get lower. It’s a mental thing we have to find a way around. You saw the same players live to a different level yesterday. In a game that, in theory we should have been favoured to win, we didn’t get out of first gear.” Canada had a 1-1-1 record Saturday but finished third in Pool A and failed to advance to the Cup competition. The top two qualifiers from the four pools advanced to the championship playoffs. Canada defeated Uruguay 47-5 in its final pool match but still needed the United States to beat Australia to move onto the championship playoffs. The Australians erased a 21-7 halftime deficit for a 31-21 win. In its other games, a late mistake resulted in Canada suffering a 28-21 loss to the U.S. Earlier the Canadians scored a try in the final seconds for a 19-19 draw with Australia. The Canada Sevens is the sixth stop on the HSBC World Rugby Seven Series. South Africa was leading the series with 92 points, followed by New Zealand with 82, Fiji 79 and Australia 72. Canada is 11th.