Canadian rugby sevens squads look to showcase their skills in Paris

The Canadian women went on to finish fifth, beating England and Ireland. But valuable points were lost in the standings.

The hope is that the final World Series stop in Paris, which starts Friday for the women and Saturday for the men, will set the tone for both Canadian teams’ runs at the World Cup Sevens in July in San Francisco.

“We definitely want to get back on the podium in Paris,” said Tait. “But even more importantly, whether that happens or not, is to get some consistency in our defensive lines. If we’re going to give up tries, the other team has to work a lot harder than they have been for them.

“If we can get our defence, our attack goes better as well.”

Tait’s team has had an up-and-down season with a roster ravaged by injuries and the early retirement of battered former skipper Jen Kish.

The Canadian women had three goals this season — win the World Series, do well at the Commonwealth Games in Australia and finish the campaign with a bang at the World Cup Sevens.

The first two goals weren’t met.

The Canadian women stand fourth in the World Series standings, tied with the U.S. on 44 points. Australia tops the table with 74, followed by New Zealand at 70 and France at 54.

And Canada lost 24-19 to England in the bronze-medal match at the Gold Coast Games.

Canada has finished third in the World Series four times in the last five seasons. It was runner-up the other year.

This season Canada was fourth in Dubai, third in Sydney, 11th in Kitakyushu, Japan, — where injuries played havoc — and fifth in Langford.

The good news is Tait’s roster is finally healthy. The hard-running Williams and Bianca Farella missed most of the season but are now giving opposition defenders fits. Captain Ghislaine Landry, a scoring machine, and Britt Benn also are back from injury.

Farella goes into the tournament on 96 tries with an opportunity to join Landry (107), Australia’s Emilee Cherry (124) and New Zealand’s Portia Woodman (178) in the century try club.

Canada will be without Julia Greenshields, who tweaked her knee in Langford but is expected to be back in time for the World Cup.

The women are in a pool with Russia, Australia and Fiji in Paris.

Australia, which won the first two events of the season, and New Zealand, which took the last two, will slug it out for the overall title. Defending champion New Zealand has won four of the last five titles, with Australia winning the other.

The Canadian men also want to finish the World Series on a high note after a positive seventh-place showing last weekend in London that saw them rise from 11th to ninth in the overall standings.

Damian McGrath’s team made the Cup quarter-finals for just the second time this season, only to run into a red-hot Fiji side in London. Fiji won 40-7 en route to its fourth straight tournament win — and fifth in the last six events.

The Pacific Islanders, who lead South Africa by seven points in the standings, have won 25 games in a row.

Canada will be without Matt Mullins, who has returned home to have surgery on a badly dislocated finger. Josiah Morra replaces him on the roster.

The men’s best finish this season was a fourth in Cape Town, losing to host South Africa in the bronze-medal game in the second stop of the Series.

They placed 11th in Dubai, 13th in Sydney, 11th in Hamilton, New Zealand, 10th in Las Vegas, 14th in Vancouver, 10th in Hong Kong and 10th in Singapore (where it won the previous season).

The men are in a pool with No. 2 South Africa, No. 11 Scotland and No. 15 Russia in Paris.

Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Canadian rugby sevens squads look to showcase their skills in Paris

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