World Rugby Sevens Series: rebirth of Canada’s squad comes to fruition on home turf in Vancouver
- Downing France, Fiji and South Africa on their way to a bronze medal at the Canada Sevens this past weekend, the squad is on the rise
- The team sit eighth on the World Rugby Sevens Series and look to London to build off while eyeing Tokyo 2020 this summer
The last time the Canadian rugby seven’s men’s squad medalled at a World Rugby Sevens Series event was nearly three years ago.
On April 16, 2017 the squad downed the United States 26-19 at the Singapore Sevens, in what many thought was the upstart team’s coming out party. The past few years have been rough for the boys in red, as they have finished no higher than eighth since 2014 and are dealing with an ongoing labour dispute between the players and Rugby Canada.
The squad also beat the Fijians – who are reigning Olympic champions – last year in Vancouver. The squad finished off their pool play by beating Wales 29-7 in a show of strength.
On Sunday, the squad opened by blanking Spain 21-0, then lost a heartbreaker to the Australians 19-14 in the semi-final as they gave up two tries in the span of 30 seconds and could not convert a last second scoring chance that would have given them the win. In the bronze medal match they looked ready to avenge the loss, and this was Canada’s first win over South Africa in seven years, a squad that won the Vancouver event in 2019.
Head coach Henry Paul said in a post-match interview they have been building off a fifth-place finish last season in Hamilton, New Zealand, and trying to put together good tournaments and solid outings since then.
“We’ve been on a path since last August. It's going in the right direction. We’re still finding out a little bit about ourselves.”
The team have been led by Nathan Hirayama who sits third on series scoring with 141 points over six legs. The 31-year-old is a Richmond, BC native who made his debut for the squad back in 2006 at the age of 18. Hirayama said the win has them believing they could be a dark horse contender for Olympic gold this summer in Tokyo.
“There’s definitely a belief in the squad,” he said adding the boys are quite proud of the bronze medal finish. “I think we’re growing and we’re taking good steps forward, leading towards the summer, which at the end of the day is our biggest goal.”
Eyeing Olympic medals are a great sign for a national programme that has seen its share of highs and lows over the past few years. In the fall of 2018 multiple sevens players including Hirayama boycotted training sessions after Rugby Canada tried to push all the players into one centralised pool for both sevens and 15s.
In November the two-month boycott came to an end as a new contract was signed and the players scheduled a unionisation vote, which is currently being argued via the BC Supreme Court. In January 2019 the BC Labour Relations Board certified the United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 as the negotiating agent for players on the senior men’s national sevens team who train out of Langford on Vancouver Island.
The team currently sit eighth on the World Rugby Sevens Series after six of 10 legs with 57 points, and will suit up next in London May 23-24.
Both the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, and the Singapore Sevens, which were scheduled to take place April, have been pushed back to October and now Hong Kong will be the last leg of the season.
The Canadian team qualified for the rugby sevens portion of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in July as they won the Rugby Americas North qualifying tournament, beating Jamaica 40-5 in the final. New Zealand won gold in Vancouver, downing Australia 17-14 and remain atop the series standings.
