The Canadian women's rugby sevens team, coming off back-to-back third-place finishes in Hong Kong and Singapore, look to finish the HSBC SVNS season with a bang this weekend in Carson, Calif.
Canada, fourth after the first six events of the season, has been drawn in Pool A with No. 1 New Zealand, No. 5 Japan and No. 8 Britain in the winner-take-all HSBC SVNS World Championship.
In the first year of an Olympic quadrennial, the Canadian women have improved as the season wore on, with coach Jocelyn Barrieau blooding a stream of new talent while players cycle between the sevens and 15s sides.
The Canadian women finished eighth to open the current season in Dubai, fifth in Cape Town, fourth in Perth and seventh in Vancouver before the two third-place finishes.
Veteran Olivia Apps calls it "steady progress."
"I think it's definitely exceeded expectations," the 26-year-old from Lindsay, Ont., who now calls Vancouver Island home, said of the season. "We've had a lot of younger players come into the group … And building into (the next) four years, I think that's exactly where we want to be — and still being able to put some consistent performances.
"There's still a lot of growing to do. I think you can see in our games against (No. 2) Australia and New Zealand, we're still a bit away from them because our games (against them) aren't really as competitive as we want them to be. But I think that we've really set ourselves a good marker in the top three, top four of the World Series … so I'm happy about that."
New Zealand and Australia have gone a combined 9-0-0 against Canada in dominating the circuit this season. New Zealand won tournaments in Cape Town, Vancouver, Hong Kong and Singapore while Australia triumphed in Dubai and Perth, Australia.
The field has been cut to the top eight men's and women's teams for the season finale. Teams nine through 12 were to have joined the top four teams from the second-tier Challenger Series — including the Canadian men — in a promotion/relegation playoff at Dignity Health Sports Park.
But World Rugby announced Thursday it was changing the season format to a three-tier setup next year, taking promotion and relegation off the table this weekend.
"Definitely super-disappointing," said Elias Hancock, a member of the Canadian men's team.
Instead, the best the Canadian men can do is make Division 2 next season, with a chance to then earn promotion to the revamped eight-team top tier.
The Canadian women finished fourth in last season's finale in Madrid in June, beaten 26-14 by No. 1 New Zealand in the bronze-medal game. Apps, then captain, was selected to World Rugby’s Women’s Sevens Dream Team.
The Canadians will be looking to finish in the top two in their group this weekend so as to make the semifinals, where Australia likely awaits if Canada is runner-up.
"There's definitely a mindset that anything can happen in this tournament and the fact that it is winner-takes-all gives all teams a bit of an extra confidence, that it's not just another World Series tournament where you're going to see a New Zealand-Australia final;" said Apps, who missed the first two events while taking time off but rejoined the squad for Perth.
After the weekend, Apps and sevens teammates Alysha Corrigan, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Florence Symonds and Mahalia Robinson will join the 15s team for the remaining matches of the Pacific Four Series in New Zealand and Australia.
The second-ranked Canadian women were scheduled to open defence of their Pacific Four Series title against the ninth-ranked U.S. in Kansas City later Friday.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2025
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
