Canada’s men’s rugby sevens team wrapped up the final stop of the World Rugby Challenger Series in Krakow with a narrow 21-19 loss to Germany, finishing fourth overall. Despite the defeat, the Canadians achieved their primary goal—clinching a place in next month’s promotion/relegation playoff for a return to the top-tier HSBC SVNS.
Securing a semifinal berth at Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium guaranteed Canada a top-four finish in the Challenger Series standings. The team will now compete against the bottom four HSBC SVNS teams in Carson, California on May 3-4 for one of four coveted spots in next season’s elite circuit.
Canada, which was relegated from the HSBC SVNS last year after a playoff loss to Spain, had a strong showing in Krakow. Wins over Madagascar, Japan, and Portugal in pool play propelled the team to the semis, though they fell to Samoa 28-5 before the tight third-place loss to Germany.
Jamie Armstrong, Kainoa Lloyd, and Morgan Di Nardo scored for Canada, with Thomas Isherwood adding two conversions. Germany’s Makonnen Amekudei led the scoring with two tries, while Cedric Eichholz and Max Roddick contributed with conversions.
Portugal won the Krakow leg with a 24-19 win over Samoa in the final, while South Africa took the women’s title, defeating Argentina 21-12.
Canada’s Challenger Series campaign included a runner-up finish to Chile in the opening round and a third-place finish in Cape Town. The team qualified for the series by winning the Rugby Americas North Sevens in November.
Source: Swifteradio.com.
