Canadian rugby sevens squads look to get on track on home turf

After a disappointing showing at the Perth stop of the HSBC SVNS Series, both the Canadian men’s and women’s rugby sevens squads are looking for better results in Vancouver.

The women’s side lost a tight Cup quarter-final 7-0 to Britain in Perth, eventually finishing seventh, while the men’s team ended up in 12th.

Phil Berna, playing in his 50th sevens series, said he and his teammates are looking to put the experience in Australia behind them and focus on the present.

“We had a bit of a tough one in Perth results wise and injuries wise, we lost three key members,” he said. “I thought I broke my leg at one point and now I’m back training so I’m really grateful to be back.”

The focus, he added, is integrating younger players into the squad for when absences pile up for Olympic qualifying in Monaco.

Heading into the three-day Vancouver competition that starts today, the Canadian women are sixth in the overall standings, while the men’s team sits 11th.

Sophie de Goede of Victoria, the captain of Canada’s women’s rugby 15s team, current Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby points leader and 2022 World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year nominee, will make her return for the women’s rugby sevens team in Vancouver.

She made her international sevens series debut last May at HSBC France Sevens and helped Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics in August in Langford.

“I think this is a good opportunity for us to have a big bounce back tournament at home.”

After Vancouver, the teams head to Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Singapore before wrapping up in Madrid from May 31 to June 2.