By Canadian Press

Former Canada coach leads Kenya past Canadian men at New Zealand Sevens

Jan 21, 2023 | 3:39 PM

HAMILTON, New Zealand — Kenya, under former Canada coach Damian McGrath, defeated the Canadian men 21-5 on Saturday in consolation play at the HSBC New Zealand Sevens.

A first-half try by Canada’s Brock Webster cancelled out a score by Edmund Anya but tries by Willy Ambaka and George Ooro Angeyo carried the 14th-ranked Kenyans past No. 13 Canada.

The loss consigned Canada to the 13th-place semifinal against No. 11 Uruguay.

The ninth-ranked Canadian women faced No. 8 Spain in the ninth-place semifinal later Saturday. On Friday, Canada tied No. 4 France 12-12 before losing 33-7 to No. 1 Australia and 17-7 to No. 10 Japan in Pool B play. It marked Japan’s first-ever win over the Canadians.

McGrath was put in charge of the Canadian men in October 2016, succeeding Zimbabwe’s Liam Middleton, whose contract was not renewed after Canada failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. The veteran English coach led the Canadians to the tournament title in Singapore in 2017, the first Cup win in the Canadian men’s 140th event on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series circuit but was fired in May 2019 with the team in 12th place in the standings.

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Henry Paul, who succeeded McGrath, stepped down as Canada coach in November with assistant coach Sean White taking over as interim head coach.

The Canadian men dropped into the consolation bracket in New Zealand after going 1-2-0 on Friday, losing 34-5 to No. 2 South Africa and 29-14 to No. 8 Argentina and beating No. 12 Spain 12-5.

The Canadian men finished 14th in both Dubai and Cape Town after opening the season with a 10th-place showing in Hong Kong. After losing to Fiji in the Hong Kong quarterfinals, South Africa won in Dubai and finished fourth in Cape Town.

Canada is looking to escape the relegation zone under the World Series’ new format in the 11-stop 2023 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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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2023

The Canadian Press