Canada's women's team beats Mexico to win bronze at Edmonton rugby 7s tourney

The Canadian women's national rugby sevens team breezed past Mexico 63-5 to capture the bronze medal at the Fast Four tournament in Edmonton on Sunday.

Canada got tries from Nakisa Levale, Alysha Corrigan, Temitope Ogunjimi, Fancy Bermudez Chavez, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Chloe Daniels, Kiri Ngawati, Renee Gonzalez and Sabrina Poulin.

Daniels, Hogan-Rochester and Olivia Apps added conversions. Zoe Tuyú replied with the lone try for Mexico.

Britain defeated the U.S. 22-5 to claim the Fast Four title.

The Canadian women's team suffered their first defeat of the weekend in a 22-12 loss to the United States earlier in the day in the semifinals.

Canada picked up a 40-12 win over Mexico on Saturday after playing to draws against the U.S. and Great Britain to kick off the tournament.

WATCH l HSBC World Rugby Women's Edmonton Fast Four: Mexico vs Canada:

HSBC World Rugby Women's Edmonton Fast Four: Mexico vs Canada - Bronze Medal

3 years ago

Duration 22:13

Watch Mexico face Canada for the bronze medal at the HSBC World Rugby women's fast four tournament in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Canadian men's squad suffered a 33-14 loss to Kenya in a tight bronze medal match later on Sunday. Jake Thiel and Alex Russell notched tries for Canada, while Brennig Prevost added a pair of conversions.

Kenya led 14-7 at halftime but Canada managed to tie the game with under six minutes to play. Late tries from Willy Ambaka, Alvin Otieno and Billy Odhiambo ultimately sealed the bronze victory for Kenya.

Series champion South Africa defeated Britain 24-12 in the final. The South Africans also won last weekend's HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series event in Vancouver.

WATCH l HSBC Men's World Rugby Sevens Edmonton: Kenya vs Canada:

HSBC Men's World Rugby Sevens Edmonton: Kenya vs Canada - Bronze medal game

3 years ago

Duration 22:56

Watch Kenya face Canada for bronze at the HSBC Rugby Sevens world tour stop in Edmonton, Alberta.

Canada was coming off a 22-12 loss to Great Britain in semifinal play earlier in the day.

Andrew Coe and Prevost had tries for sixth-seeded Canada, which finished sixth at last week's World Series competition at BC Place Stadium.

Ross McCann, Luke Treharne, Robbie Fergusson and Tom Bowen answered on Sunday for the No. 3 Brits, who beat Canada 31-5 in the quarter-finals in Vancouver before downing Ireland 24-14 for bronze.

Canada opened Sunday's action with a 14-12 victory over the fourth-seeded Irish. Josiah Morra of Toronto led the way with two tries, the second with 24 seconds left on the clock. Prevost made the conversion from a fair distance to seal the win.

Morra struck first at the three-minute mark of the first half with his third try of the tourney when he straight-armed an Ireland defender on the way to the try line.

Jordan Conroy answered one minute 35 seconds later with his third try of the weekend competition.

Early in the second half, Ireland took advantage of Canada being down a man after Coe was sent off the pitch with a yellow card when Aaron O'Sullivan gave the Irish a 12-7 lead, but Sean Cribbin missed the convert.

Only seven of the men's core teams competed in the Canadian events with New Zealand. Fiji, Australia, Argentina, Japan, France and Samoa among those missing due to pandemic-related travel restrictions.

Canada cruised to a 40-12 victory over the Mexicans on Saturday in pool play as five players recorded tries, led by Florence Symonds' pair.

On Sunday, Jaz Gray led the second-seeded Americans with three tries to book a date with Great Britain in the women's final.

Steph Rovetti had the other try, breaking loose on the outside to open the scoring four minutes into the contest on a cool and sunny afternoon.

With the U.S. leading 12-0, Gray scored her second try after Joanne Fa'avesi took three Canadians with her on the attack before passing to her teammate.

Rugby Canada fielded young teams at the Canadian tournaments after a spate of retirements and veterans taking time off in the wake of the Tokyo Olympics.

The 2022 World Series season will start with back-to-back combined events in Dubai. The first, Nov. 26-27, will be held behind closed doors while the second, Dec. 3-4, will see fans in attendance at the Sevens Stadium.

The full 2022 schedule will be announced later with "alternative host options" being considered to replace Australia and New Zealand events in January.

WATCH | The Breakdown: Canadian Rugby 7s preview:

Previewing Canada Rugby Sevens in Edmonton

3 years ago

Duration 5:24

CBC’s Anastasia Bucsis is joined by former Rugby Canada player Andrea Burk to preview the Canadian men’s and women’s rugby sevens tournament at the second HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Edmonton.