USA Sevens Rugby: Pair of losses drop Canada out of contention

Canada suffered two defeats in Saturday's USA Sevens action, losing 17-10 to Wales and 19-10 to Russia.

Those results mean the Canadians will face England in the Shield semifinal on Sunday afternoon.

It was a disappointing conclusion to the USA Sevens pool stages for Canada as they lost out to Wales in a crucial game.

Needing to claim victory by a healthy margin and hope South Africa would defeat the United States afterwards, the Canadians knew they had to be on top of their game from the outset against a Welsh side that had lost their two opening matches.

Welshman Ben Roach was the first to go over inside a minute before Ethan Davies made it 12-0 and then Kristian Phillips raced in.

Canada needed to hit back immediately after the interval and they did just that when Phil Mack ran in from the kick-off.

Hopes of a second-half revival improved when Adam Thomas was given a yellow card for a deliberate slap down, leaving Wales one man down for two minutes. Canada capitalized seconds later when Justin Douglas made it 17-10.

The Canadians couldn't complete the rally, however, putting them into the Bowl quarter-final against Russia.

After a draw and two losses in the pools, the Canadians were determined to finish Day 2 on a positive note but fell short as Russia ran out 19-10 winners thanks to three tries, two of which arrived in the opening half.

It had all started positively for Canada when Douglas went over on the left sideline to make it 5-0 after three minutes.

But Russia fought its way back into the game with tries from Vladimir Ostroushko and Vladislav Sozonov sending them into the break with a 14-5 cushion.

Ostroushko extended that margin to 14 points soon after the interval, worsening Canada's predicament.

Canada eventually grabbed a late consolation score through Hirayama.