In the final World Series stop before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Canada’s women’s sevens team has claimed their second Women’s Sevens World Series title ever.
Canada won the Clermont-Ferrand Sevens, beating the number one ranked team in the world, Australia, 29-19. In the cup final Magali Harvey opened the scoring for Canada and was followed by Kelly Russell with a try of her own to give the team an early 14-0 lead.
Australia responded but Canada was not to be outdone, scoring back-to-back tries before the half ended.
The Wallaroos scored a try on either side of a yellow card, cutting Canada’s lead to 26-19 with three minutes remaining. But Ghislaine Landry converted a penalty in the final moments to secure the team’s first title of the season.
On day one of action in France, Canada beat Japan 21-5, Russia 29-12 and lost their last match of the day to New Zealand 19-17.
On day two, Team Canada shook off the loss, heading into the cup quarter-finals against Fiji. Landry provided the points, scoring a try just 30 seconds in, while the rest of the team put up a strong defence. Harvey showed off her strength and speed, making two try saving tackles for Canada, preventing Fiji from getting any momentum heading into the break.
After the break, Karen Paquin made another tackle on the try line for Canada and Landry added her second try of the match to give Canada a 12-0 lead. In the final minute of play, Fiji was finally able to penetrate Canada’s defence but it was not enough to stop the Canadians from walking away with the victory.
In the cup semifinals Canada put in their best performance of the weekend, with an impressive 31-10 victory over England. Team Canada’s offence was once again led by Landry, who scored a hat trick in the match.
England opened the scoring with a try in the second minute of play but Canada responded with 19 unanswered points, leaving Canada ahead 12-5 at the half.
Led by Britt Benn and Harvey on defence, Canada continued to make timely tackles, preventing England from getting their footing in Canadian territory.
Karen Paquin added another one to the scoreboard for Canada, bringing the lead to 19-5. But England rallied, picking up their first score in over 10 minutes of play, cutting that lead down to 19-10. Landry picked up her third try of the match and Bianca Farelle added some insurance points in the final seconds of play to secure Canada’s win.
With the big title win in France, Canada earned 20 series points, jumping ahead of England in the standing to take third overall.
katie@goldstreamgazette.com