Canada’s women’s sevens squad took full advantage of the first Vancouver Rugby Festival, with their main squad winning the Women’s Elite title in front of Canada’s largest ever rugby crowd and an international TV audience tuned in for the men’s World Series, while their second team finished fourth.
Pace of Canada’s Bianca Farella too much for France in the final (Photo: Toronto Star)
Seven teams took part in the three-day tournament, which also saw Great Britain taking the chance to give their non-English players game-time, and France and the USA try out players competing for places in the Women’s Sevens World Series and, ultimately, the Olympics in Rio. The tournament was made up by two more invitational team full of international experience.
The top four national squads were all placed in Pool A, making it one of the most competitive pools we have seen. With the help of home advantage, the first-string Canadian team (officially “Maple Leafs Red”) took top spot with three straight wins – 24-10 against France Select, 26-12 over GB Select, and 31-0 against US Falcons. Their second string (“Maple Leafs White”) also won Pool B.
The match of the pool phase – and possibly the best game of the tournament – was the battle between France and Great Britain for second spot in Pool A, which brought with it an easier route to the final. As in Las Vegas this was a terrific battle between two teams who, through both tournaments and join training camps, know each other very well and again it was France who took the honours in a game that could have gone either way, in this case 22-19.
Canada’s Reds now had a bye to the final four, and the question was who would join them. In the quarters France saw off US-based Stars 7s comfortably, Great Britain beat the mainly Canadian Apoltella 21-12, but the US Falcons were brought to earth by Canada’s White squad 31-0, giving the hosts two teams in the semi-finals. As a consolation the Falcons beat Apotella to finish 5th overall.
The two semi-finals were close, but both also had the same result with Canada’s Reds beating Great Britain 10-0 and France seeing off the White by the same score. With Great Britain taking third after a 24-7 win over the Whites, the stage was set for Canada’s main squad to take on France’s self-styled “Regiment 2” in front of 30,000 gathered for the final of the Vancouver leg of the men’s World Sevens.
Toronto’s Ghislaine Landry set the tone for Canada, scoring a try within 30 seconds of the opening kick off. Captain Jen Kish and the pace of Bianca Farella followed up with two more tries and a conversion to win 17-5.
It was an impressive display of skill and speed of the women’s game in front of a wider audience than it usually receives. “People usually underestimate women’s sport compared to men but I think, in the last two years especially, the women’s game has gotten so fast and so physical,” Landry said afterwards. “People don’t know what’s going on because they don’t really see it, so to put on show like this is a big deal for us and women’s rugby in general.”
Results
Pool A: France 10-24 Maple Leafs Red; USA Falcons 12-22 Team GB; France 22-19 Team GB; France 24-5 USA Falcons; Team GB 12-26 Maple Leafs Red; USA Falcons 12-31 Maple Leafs Red
Pool B: Stars 7s 0-27 Aptoella Angels; Aptoella Angels 0-17 Maple Leafs White; Stars 7s 0-39 Maple Leafs White
Quarter-finals: Stars 7s 0-58 France; Aptoella Angels 12-21 Team GB; Maple Leafs White 31-0 USA Falcons
Fifth place play-off: USA Falcons 19-0 Aptoella Angels
Semi-finals: Team GB 0-10 Maple Leafs Red; Maple Leafs White 0-10 France
Third place play-off: Team GB 24-7 Maple Leafs White
Final: France 5-17 Maple Leafs Red
Squads
Apotella Angels: Andrea Birk; Amanda Thornborough; Barbara Mervin; Brittanny Orr; Emily Young; Julianne Zussman; Katie McNally; Kelsie Stockart; Lisa Gauthier; Paige Ferries; Brittany Waters; Ciara Malone
Canada Red: Britt Benn – (Guelph Redcoats) Napanee, ON; Caroline Crossley – (Castaway Wanderers) Victoria, BC; Hannah Darling – (Peterborough Pagans) Warsaw, ON; Bianca Farella – (Town of Mont Royal RFC) Montreal, QC; Emmanuela Jada (Guelph Redcoats) Guelph, ON; Sara Kaljuvee – (Toronto Scottish) Ajax, ON; Jen Kish – (Edmonton Rockers) Edmonton, AB; Ghislaine Landry – (Toronto Scottish) Toronto, ON ; Nakisa Levale - (Abbotsford, BC) ; Kayla Moleschi - (Williams Lake Rustlers) Williams Lake, BC; Kelly Russell - (Toronto Nomads) Bolton, ON
Canada White: Emily Belchos – (Markham Irish) Barrie, ON; Ashley Gordon – (Brampton Beavers) Brampton, ON; Julia Greenshields – (Sarnia Saints) Sarnia, ON; Pamphinette Buisa – (Ottawa Irish) Gatineau, QC; Megan Lukan – (Unattached) Barrie, ON; Kayla Mack – (Wild Oats) Saskatoon, SK; Mandy Marchak – (Capilano RFC) Winnipeg, MB ; Breanne Nicholas - (London St. Georges) Blenheim, ON ; Nadia Popov – (Aurora Barbarians) Newmarket, ON; Laura Russell (Toronto Nomads) Bolton, ON; Charity Williams – (Markham Irish) Toronto, ON
France: Montserrat Amedee (Montpellier, FFR); Audrey Amiel (Stade Français, FFR); Lénaïg Corson (Rennes, FFR); Camille Grassineau (Bordeaux, FFR) ; Clémence Gueucier (Bobigny, FFR); Elodie Guiglion (FFR); Shannon Izar (Lille MRCV, FFR); Christelle Le Duff (FFR); Laurianne Lissar (AS Bayonne, FFR); Amélie Mugnier (Blagnac Saint-Orens, FFR); Chloé Pelle (Lille MRCV, FFR); Jessy Tremouliere (AS Romagnat, FFR)
Great Britain: Abbie Brown, Rachael Burford (captain), Laurie Harries, Stephanie Johnston, Jasmine Joyce, Alex Matthews, Fran Matthews, Katy Mclean, Emily Scott, Danielle Waterman, Kay Wilson, Amy Wilson Hardy
United States Falcons: Emily Azevedo ; Meya Bizer ; Lauren Doyle ; Carmen Farmer ; Irene Gardner ; Nicole Heavirland ; Hannah Lopez ; Amy Naber ; Jane Paar ; Christy Ringgenberg ; Richelle Stephens ; Kate Zackary