The Canadian women’s and men’s sevens teams advanced to the semifinals after the first day of rugby sevens competition at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
The Canadian women’s and men’s sevens teams advanced to the semifinals after the first day of rugby sevens competition at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
Opening the tournament against the host nation, Piper Logan was the first to strike for Canada’s women’s sevens team, touching the ball between the posts in the first three minutes against Chile. Olivia de Couvreur added to Canada’s scoring with two conversions by Asia Hogan-Rochester that gave Canada a 14-0 halftime lead.
Canada’s offense picked up in the second half with a second try from Logan (converted by Hogan-Rochester) as well as tries from Charity Williams, Chloe Daniels and Shalaya Valenzuela. While Chile generated several scoring opportunities in the final minutes, Canada’s defense held strong and Lucy Romeo scored to seal a 41-0 win for Canada in her first international sevens appearance.
“It feels so good to be here in Chile with the team,” Logan said. “We’ve been working really hard the last six weeks, so to be able to put it on the field is great.”
Eleven Canadian tries were scored in the team’s next game against Mexico, with two each from Hogan-Rochester, Logan, Williams and Romeo. Valenzuela and Breanne Nicholas also contributed to the scoreboard, with Carissa Norsten scoring her first international try for seven. Five successful conversions by Hogan-Rochester put Canada’s final score at 69-0.
“I think in our first game we started off a little slow,” Hogan-Rochester said. “We still came away with a really big win, but we really wanted to lift it [against Mexico] and I feel like the whole team, one through 12, did a great job on that, and I know we’re all proud of ourselves right now.”
Pool play ended with Canada vs. Brazil. Norsten scored in the first minute of play, but a back-and-forth game ensued with Brazil leading 7-5. Logan used his speed to get Canada a second try, but Brazil answered again with one of their own to lead 14-12 at halftime. Brazil scored once more to take a 21-12 lead, but Williams led Canada’s comeback, scoring twice (one by Hogan-Rochester). Another Romeo try gave Canada the 29-21 win to finish on top of Pool B.
Canada’s women’s heptathlon team will now meet Colombia in the semifinals on Saturday, November 4 at 7:40am PT / 10:40am ET.
Canada’s men’s heptathlon team opened the Pan American Games against Brazil, with David Richard turning in a three-try performance. With Canada leading 12-5 at halftime thanks to two goals by Richard and a conversion by Loki Kratz, Brazil tied the game early in the second half. Ethan Hager broke away from Brazil’s defense to restore Canada’s lead, with Richard securing his hat trick in the final minute to clinch the 22-12 victory.
Kratz successfully converted all six of Canada’s tries in their game against Mexico, two of which were his own. Matt Persilier opened the scoring midway through the first half and although Mexico closed the gap to 7-5, Kratz ensured Canada maintained the halftime lead with their first try of the game. Richard scored his fourth goal of the tournament two minutes into the second half, followed by tries from Kratz and Jake Thiel. Richard’s final try in the last minute of the game gave Canada a 42-5 victory.
“It was a big improvement from our first game and I think we’re pretty happy with that performance,” Kratz said. “A lot of the guys came through and it was a great team effort.”
Canada’s final game of day one was a rematch of August’s Rugby Americas Northern Sevens gold medal final. The USA started scoring early to go up 7-0, later taking advantage of a Canadian yellow card to extend their lead to 12-0. Canada started the second half on offense, with Persilier scoring his second goal of the day to close the gap to 12-5. However, a strong American counter-strike helped the US to a new attempt. The final score of 19-5 put Canada in second place in Group B.
“They took advantage of the breakdown. We didn’t show up for the fight at halftime and they outplayed us,” head coach Sean White said. “We need to refuel. Go home, do the right things, eat the right food, take care of your bodies and be ready to show up tomorrow for day two.”
Canada’s men’s sevens team will meet Argentina in the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 8:55 a.m. PT / 11:55 a.m. ET.
WHERE TO WATCH
CBC Sports is Canada’s home for the Pan American Games in 2023. Extensive coverage can be viewed on CBC Sports platforms, including up to four daily streaming feeds available on cbcsports.ca, CBC Gem and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android.
The results and the full program can be found here.