By Canadian Press

Canada men suffer nightmarish start in Madrid in bid to avoid HSBC SVNS relegation

May 31, 2024 | 6:23 AM

MADRID — Canada’s bid to avoid relegation from the HSBC SVNS circuit got off to a nightmarish start Friday in a 41-7 loss to Uruguay.

The Canadian men found themselves behind the 8-ball when Matt Owuru was shown a red card for a high tackle on Bautista Basso just 53 seconds into the match. Things went from bad to worse in the second half when Kalin Sager was shown a yellow, reducing Canada to five men for two minutes.

Uruguay took advantage of its superiority in numbers, running in five of its seven tries in the second half under the sunshine at Civitas Metropolitano Stadium, home of the Atletico Madrid soccer club.

Juan Gonzalez and Basso had two tries apiece while Diego Ardao, Mateo Vinals and Juan Manual Tafernaberry added singles for Uruguay, which led 12-7 at the half. Guillermo Lijtenstein kicked two conversions and Tafernaberry booted one.

Thomas Isherwood scored Canada’s lone try, on a marvellous solo run in the third minute. Cooper Coats added the conversion.

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It marked the 26th straight loss for the Canadians, whose last win was Dec. 10 in Cape Town — a 33-17 victory over France to finish seventh on the second stop of the campaign.

Canada placed last on the other six stops, compiling a dismal 3-32-0 over the seven events that preceded the season finale in Madrid. The Canadian men went winless in Dubai, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Promotion/relegation is now an annual feature on the top sevens circuit with the bottom four teams from the slimmed-down rebranded HSBC SVNS and the top four teams from World Rugby’s second-tier Challenger Series facing off to decide four berths in next season’s elite division.

The Canadian men have been a core team on the circuit since 2012-13.

The top eight men’s and women’s sides, meanwhile, meet in a “winner-take-all” grand final in Madrid, the eighth and final stop of the season.

Canada is playing in Qualifier Pool A with Uruguay, Germany and the U.S. (which finished ninth in the World Series). The U.S. opened with a 40-19 win over Germany.

The other group has Chile, Kenya, No. 10 Spain and No. 11 Samoa.

Uruguay finished atop the Challenger Series, ahead of Kenya, Chile and Germany.

After games against Uruguay and Germany on Friday, Canada completes pool play against the U.S. on Saturday. The teams will then cross over Sunday with A1 versus B4, 2A versus 3B, 3A versus 2B and 4A versus 1B.

The winners of the four crossover matches earn core status for next season. Should Canada lose that final test, it would drop down to the second-tier Challenger Series.

While Canada’s men fight for survival, the fifth-ranked Canadian women battle for silverware in the season finale.

The Canadian women join No. 1 New Zealand, No. 2 Australia, No. 3 France, No. 4 U.S. No. 7 Ireland and No. 8 Britain in competing for the season’s final prize.

The Canadian women have been drawn in Pool A with New Zealand, Britain and the U.S.

The men’s grand final in Madrid features No. 1 Argentina, No. 2 Ireland, No. 3 New Zealand, No. 4 Australia, No. 5 Fiji, No. 6 France, No. 7 South Africa and No. 8 Britain.

The Canadian men survived a four-team relegation playoff last year, defeating Kenya 12-7 in London in the final on a last-minute Alex Russell try to preserve its status as a core team. Canada needed a late try from Brock Webster to post a dramatic 21-19 comeback win over Uruguay en route to the Kenya showdown.

The 2023 relegation fight was a product of the sevens circuit reducing the number of men’s teams to 12 from 16 to align with the women’s competition and the Olympic field.

No. 9 Japan, No. 10 Brazil, No. 11 South Africa and No. 12 Spain are joined in the women’s relegation playoff in Madrid by China, Argentina, Belgium and Poland from the Challenger Series.

Madrid marks the final tournament for the Canadian women before the Paris Olympics in July. After Madrid, the Canadian men focus on a last-ditch Olympic qualification tournament in Monaco in late June.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2024

The Canadian Press