CANADA CLAIM SECOND EVER SERIES TITLE
In the final stop of the season, Canada’s women’s sevens team has claimed their second ever Women’s Sevens World Series title after winning the Clermont-Ferrand Sevens with a 29-19 win over Australia.
Canada’s Kelly Russell was named Player of the Final, while Britt Benn and Ghislaine Landry were named to the tournament Dream Team.
With the win, Canada earned 20 series points and jumped ahead of England into third place in the overall standings.
Canada has now finished third, third, second and third in the first four seasons of the WSWS.
Their cup title comes just three months before the team heads to Brazil for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games.
The Australians clinched the 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series title earlier in the day.
Earlier in the day Canada beat Fiji 12-5 in the Cup Quarterfinals, then defeated England 31-10 in the Cup Semifinals.
What head coach John Tait said:
“We didn¹t have the smoothest build through the tournament with some inconsistent finishes along the way but we turned up when it mattered the most on day two. So proud of the collective effort of the whole group and the resilience they showed and the response to losing our captain Jen Kish on day one to injury.
“Ghislaine Landry led the team from the front and put England away in the semifinals off the turnovers her teammates won for her. Britt Benn finally had her breakout tournament with some fantastic play in both directions. It really took a collective effort though from the whole squad and support staff to finish the season on this high and give us the momentum we were looking for towards our ultimate goal of a top performance in Rio.”
CANADA 12-5 FIJI (Cup Quarterfinals)
Ghislaine Landry provided the points while the rest of her team provided the defence as Canada came away with a well-deserved Cup Quarterfinals 12-5 win over Fiji.
It was a perfect start to the match for Canada, as Landry touched down with a try just 30 seconds in.
Magali Harvey then showed off her speed and strength, making two try-saving tackles for Canada, preventing the Fijians from getting any sort of momentum heading into the break.
After Karen Paquin made another try-line tackle for Canada, Landry added her second try of the match, giving Canada a 12-0 lead.
Fiji was finally able to penetrate the Canadian defence in the final minute, but it was too little too late as Canada came away with the 12-5 victory.
CANADA 31-10 ENGLAND (Cup Semifinals)
Canada put in their best performance of the weekend, advancing to the Clermont-Ferrand Sevens Cup Final with an impressive 31-10 victory over England.
Canada was led on offence by Ghislaine Landry, who scored a hat trick in the win.
After England opened the scoring with a try in the second minute, Canada responded by scoring 19 unanswered points, most of which came from Landry.
The Toronto native scored two first half tries as Canada took a 12-5 lead into the half.
Led by Britt Benn and Magali Harvey on defence, Canada continued to make timely, hard tackles as England struggled to get deep into Canadian territory.
After Karen Paquin extended Caanda’s lead to 19-5, England picked up their first score in over 10 minutes to cut the lead to 19-10.
After Landry picked up her third try of the match, Bianca Farella added some insurance in the final seconds.
CANADA 29-19 AUSTRALIA (Cup Final)
Canada captured their second ever series title with a 29-19 win over the series champions.
Magali Harvey opened the scoring for Canada in the third minute and Kelly Russell followed with a try of her own two minutes later to give Canada an early 14-0 lead.
After Australia responded with a try of their own, it was Canada scoring back-to-back tries before the half ended as Ghislaine Landry and Britt Benn touched down for Canada who led 26-7 after the first 10 minutes.
With half’s extended to 10 minutes in the Cup Final, there was plenty time left in the match for Australia to cut away at the lead.
The Wallaroos scored a try on either side of a Landry yellow card and Canada’s lead was cut to 26-19 with three minutes remaining.
However, Canada retained possession in the closing minutes and Landry converted a penalty in the final moments to give Canada their first title of the season.
Canada’s Roster for the Clermont-Ferrand Sevens (name, club and hometown):
Britt Benn – (Guelph Redcoats) Napanee, ON
Hannah Darling – (Peterborough Pagans) Warsaw, ON
Bianca Farella – (Town of Mont Royal RFC) Montreal, QC
Magali Harvey - (Club de Rugby Quebec) Quebec City, QC
Jen Kish – (Edmonton Rockers) Edmonton, AB
Ghislaine Landry – (Toronto Scottish) Toronto, ON
Megan Lukan – (Unattached) Barrie, ON
Kayla Moleschi - (Williams Lake Rustlers) Williams Lake, BC
Karen Paquin - (Club de Rugby Quebec) Quebec City, QC
Kelly Russell - (Toronto Nomads) Bolton, ON
Natasha Watcham-Roy – (Hull Volant) Gatineau, QC
Charity Williams – (Markham Irish) Toronto, ON
Canada's Coaching Staff:
Meaghan Howat – Manager
John Tait – Head Coach
Sandro Fiorino – Assistant Coach
Sandeep Nandhra – Athletic Therapist
Tyler Goodale – Strength & Conditioning
Callum Morris - Analyst
Canada’s Clermont-Ferrand Sevens Day 1 Schedule:
Canada 21-5 Japan
Canada 29-12 Russia
Canada 17-19 New Zealand
Canada’s Clermont-Ferrand Sevens Day 2 Schedule:
Canada 12-5 Fiji
Canada 31-10 England
Canada 29-19 Australia
-30-
