Historic second place finish for Rugby Canada at Glasgow Sevens
Canada continued to make gains in rugby union with the Men’s Sevens team finishing second to powerful New Zealand in Glasgow, Scotland on Sunday.
With a seven-a-side version of the sport set to makes its debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games, Canadian progress in the sport – and its growing popularity – has given rugby new momentum in Canada.
A release from Rugby Canada called the Glasgow Sevens outcome “a historic achievement” with “a best-ever second place” result. The Canadians lost 54-7 to the world-renowned All Blacks, but picked up 19 IRB Sevens World Series points. The 2013-14 Series has nine legs, each in a different country.
New Zealand has won every Series but three since this Sevens championship format was introduced in the 1999-2000 season. Canada finished 12th last season but now has moved up to sixth in 2013-14, signalling a massive shift in the right direction ahead of Rio 2016.
The Series will conclude at the century-old Twickenham Stadium in southwest London, England the weekend of May 10-11. Canada will open London Sevens against Samoa in Pool B. Other teams in Canada’s group are Kenya and the United States. Top two countries in each of the four pools advance to the quarterfinals.
Photos via Rugby Canada, credit Martin Seras Lima.
