Team Canada has advanced to the finals.
Canada has already guaranteed themselves their best finish in three Canada Womens Sevens rugby tournaments by stunning the Olympic gold medallists Australia with a 17-10 victory at Westhills Stadium in Langford. Canada faces New Zealand in the final at 5:30 this afternoon.
The winning try came from Charity Williams, who took a pass deep in Canada’s end with under four minutes to go then won a footrace down the sideline before depositing the ball under the posts for her team’s third try of the match. Ghislaine Landry kicked an easy convert to make it 17-5 Canada.
IT is electric! @canadasevens vs. Australia, NOW! @VIFreeDaily #GoCanada pic.twitter.com/JrWBBGsZju
— Goldstream News (@GoldstreamNews) May 28, 2017
Asked what it will take to win the final, against tournament #1 New Zealand, who beat France in the other semifinal , Williams said, “Stick to our roles, stick to our game plan …”
She said the whole team has worked extremely hard this tournament and she hoped to end the weekend on a “really, really high note.”
Australia started off strong, striking first and taking a 5-0 lead on the strength of a try from Chloe Dalton, but Canada battled back with three straight trys, the first by Ghislaine Landry who streaked down the middle of the field almost untouched, followed with another score from Julia Greenshield.
Australia’s Cassandra Staples added a try late in the game to make it close, but despite the late Australian push to tie the game, Canada’s defence held on to punch their ticket against New Zealand who defeated France 28-5. The final starts at 5:30 p.m. at Westhills Stadium.
Day 2 started out for Canada’s women’s rugby sevens team the way Saturday ended, with a big win.
@SocMedGirlyyj @WWYDABC @JohnQABC And the crowd goes wild. @canadasevens now up 19-5 after Ghyslaine Landry scores try just before the half. pic.twitter.com/IGamYxszVI
— Arnold Lim (@arnoldlimphoto) May 28, 2017
A critical 33-5 victory in this morning’s quarter-final match over England propelled the Canadians into the afternoon semifinals against the Olympic gold medallists from Australia, who beat the U.S. in the day’s second quarter-final. Match time is 2:20 p.m.
13-year Rugby Canada veteran Ashley Steacy, who recently announced she would be retiring after the 2017 season, opened the floodgates, powering down the sidelines for the try. Ghislaine Landry added two more, with Brittany Benn, and Megan Lukan rounding out the scoring with one try each.
Womens @canadasevens has scored 123 points for, & only 20 points against in 4 games @WesthillsInBC Canada plays Australia 2:20pm semifinals. pic.twitter.com/k20LhN2uAq
— Goldstream News (@GoldstreamNews) May 28, 2017
Like last year, Canada went 3-0 in pool play matches Saturday to set up their playoff round, but the win keeps them in the hunt for the Cup title that has so far eluded them at this tournament.
Look to @Goldstreamnews on Twitter for live up-to-the-second scores.
For coverage of day one, click HERE…
