Canadian teams fall at Rugby World Cup Sevens
Women ousted by France in quarters, men beaten by Argentina in round of 16
SAN FRANCISCO — Canada's women's and men's rugby sevens team were both knocked out of title contention on Friday night at the Rugby World Cup Sevens.
The women's team lost 24-19 to France on a last-second try that capped off a back-and-forth quarter-final match. The Canadians were 3-0 against the French this year, but it was France that kept Canada off the overall World Series podium for the first time ever and got the upper hand at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
"That last kickoff that we had was ours to win, but we didn't get it," Canadian winger Bianca Farella said. "That was a crucial moment for France and they kept the ball and had a great line break and then there was a breakdown on our tryline and they were able to muscle their way forward."
"We'll each individually take the time to soak in that loss and come ready for tomorrow"
The women's team will play Spain in a placement game to set up the fifth-through-eighth seeding on Saturday at 2:20 p.m. ET/11:20 a.m. PT. Head coach John Tait said he'd incorporate more players tomorrow to provide an additional energy boost.
"We definitely want to finish on a better note tomorrow than we did today," Tait said.
Men fold against Argentina
On the men's side, Argentina showed their mettle in a 28-0 victory over the Canadian men who will play Japan in the consolation Challenge Trophy quarter-finals Saturday at 5:26 p.m. ET/2:26 p.m. PT.
"I'm not disappointed at the result, I'm disappointed in the manner of the result," head coach Damian McGrath said. "They didn't make any mistakes and we did.
"We were beaten in all aspects of the game, we were second best at everything."
Mateo Carreras 🇦🇷puts salt in the wound of <a href="https://twitter.com/RugbyCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RugbyCanada</a> with another try for Argentina - this time off a clever kick and chase downfield <br><br>Final score: 🇨🇦0-28 🇦🇷<br><br>Watch all the action from the <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldRugby7s?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WorldRugby7s</a> below ⬇ <a href="https://t.co/Eu7t9gUYnM">https://t.co/Eu7t9gUYnM</a><br><br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RWC7s?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RWC7s</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcrugby?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cbcrugby</a> <a href="https://t.co/txXtSzUAuZ">pic.twitter.com/txXtSzUAuZ</a>
—@CBCOlympicsEven with a World Cup title officially out of reach, veteran Nathan Hirayama is confident his teammates will return to the pitch with renewed energy on Saturday.
"I don't think it's going to be hard to get up for any game here," Hirayama said. "We obviously want to be in the top tier, but if there's a game to be played on this ground — we have a ton of support down here, a ton of support back home — this one's really important to us.
"We're going to be up for it regardless of what we're playing for."
CBC Sports will have complete coverage of the Rugby World Cup Sevens, which run from July 20-22.
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