The Canadian women’s rugby sevens team finished ninth at the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Sydney, Australia, following back-to-back victories over Spain and Brazil on Saturday.
The 10th-ranked Canadians rebounded for their first two wins of the tournament after finishing at the bottom of Pool B with an 0-3-0 record.
Canada took down No. 9 Spain 27-10 in a ninth-place semifinal before edging No. 11 Brazil 24-21 in an exciting ninth-place playoff.
Canada moved into the consolation bracket after losses to the United States, Great Britain and Fiji in pool play.
The Canadian women improved upon their 11th-place finish from last weekend’s stop in Hamilton, New Zealand. The team finished ninth in Dubai before finishing eighth in Cape Town in December.
No. 5 France will face top-ranked New Zealand in the final at 3:56 a.m. ET, while the third-ranked Americans will go up against No. 4 Ireland for bronze at 3:07 a.m. ET.
Watch live coverage of the men’s and women’s tournaments on CBCsports.ca, CBC Gem and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android.
WATCH | Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series Sydney: Canada vs. Brazil:
Watch Canada play Brazil at the HSBC Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Sydney, Australia.
On the men’s side, Canada went winless in Sydney with an 0-4-0 record.
The 14th-ranked Canadian men finished at the bottom of Pool A after losing 33-5 to Great Britain earlier on Saturday, and they suffered two more tough losses to close out their tournament.
Canada was overwhelmed by No. 15 Tonga in a ninth-place quarterfinal, trailing 21-0 at halftime en route to a 35-14 loss. The Canadians were then bested in the 13th-place semifinal despite leading 14-0 at halftime, with the 12th-ranked Spaniards claiming a 14-12 comeback victory.
WATCH | Men’s World Rugby Sevens Series Sydney: Canada vs. Spain:
Watch Canada play Spain at the HSBC Men’s World Rugby Sevens Series stop in Sydney, Australia.
Top-ranked New Zealand goes up against No. 13 South Africa in the final at 4:26 a.m. ET. No. 5 France will face No. 7 Fiji for bronze at 3:29 a.m. ET.
The Canadian men finished 14th in both Dubai and Cape Town after opening the season with a 10th-place showing in Hong Kong.
The number of men’s core teams will be reduced to 12 after this season.
The 15th-ranked core team following the 10th round in Toulouse in May will be relegated. The teams ranked 12th, 13th and 14th at the end of the Toulouse event will take part in a four-team relegation playoff together with the 2023 Challenger Series winner in the final stop of the season in London.
The relegation playoff will be round-robin format with the top two teams then playing a final. The winner will become the 12th core team on the 2024 Series, while the other three teams will enter their respective Regional Sevens Championships in order to qualify for the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series.
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