Canada's Kalin Sager and Thomas Isherwood celebrate Sager's try during Vancouver Sevens rugby action, in Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

By The Canadian Press

Canadian men post four straight wins en route to reaching semifinals at RAN Sevens

Nov 22, 2025 | 12:45 PM

ARIMA — Defending champion Canada cruised into the semifinals at the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens with wins over Mexico and the Cayman Islands on Saturday.

After the Canadian men downed Mexico 35-7 to top their group, they thumped the Cayman Islands 40-7 in quarterfinal play.

Ian Jones led the way against the Cayman Islands with three tries with Thomas Isherwood adding two and Harry Corkum adding a single. Canada led at 26-7 the half.

Canada led Mexico 14-0 at the half, taking advantage of Mexican indiscipline to score its tries.

Michael Moloney opened the scoring from a quick-tap penalty from near the Mexican try-line. Johnny Franklin powered his way over for a second try after a penalty in favour of Mexico was reversed near its try-line.

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Ethan Turner, Corkum and Adam Doane added second-half tries to give Canada a 35-0 lead before Mexico got on the board with the clock in the red.

Canada opened play Friday by blanking Barbados 45-0 and Bermuda 34-0.

Corkum scored three tries on debut for Canada against Barbados and added three more against Bermuda.

The regional competition marks the start of the Canadian men’s climb back to the elite HSBC SVNS circuit.

Relegated from the top tier in June 2024, the Canadians had hoped to reclaim their place via a promotion-relegation playoff series in May after climbing out of the second-tier Challenger Series. But World Rugby rejigged the entire sevens series structure ahead of the tournament in Carson, Calif., taking promotion off the table.

Other men’s sides competing in the top tier of the 20-team RAN Sevens at Larry Gomes Stadium are the Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica and host Trinidad and Tobago. The U.S., as a member of the HSBC SVNS circuit, is not competing.

The tournament winner moves on to the next stage of the promotion road, an HSBC SVNS 3 event set for January. A top-two finish there would move the Canadian men on to the HSBC SVNS 2 competition scheduled to run February to March. A top-four finish there earns a berth in the three-event HSBC SVNS World Championship in April, May and June — and a chance to get back in the top tier.

With the United States not in the field, Canada thumped Trinidad and Tobago 38-0 to win last year’s RAN Sevens, with the Canadians outscoring their opposition 169-0 in five matches (not counting a group game against Barbados that was designated a scoreless draw after a downpour forced the match to be called off with Canada leading 10-0 in the first half).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2025.

The Canadian Press