Canadian women, men top Ireland in opening matches at New Zealand Sevens 2024 ado7

Canadian women, men top Ireland in opening matches at New Zealand Sevens

24/01/2020

Canada captain Ghislaine Landry booted her 300th career conversion in a 24-7 win over Ireland at the HSBC New Zealand Sevens on Friday.

Landry came into the tournament with 299 conversions, second only to New Zealand’s Tyla Nathan-Wong’s 379. The 31-year-old from Toronto already led all women on the circuit with 1,286 points coming into Hamilton.

Live
Watch HSBC World Rugby Sevens from New Zealand

Britt Benn’s fourth-minute try set the stage for Landry’s milestone kick.

Later, the Canadian men also picked up a tournament-opening victory against Ireland after Phil Berna’s last-play try clinched a 26-21 win.

Nathan Hirayama, Andrew Coe and Jake Thiel also picked up scores for 12th-ranked Canada.

CBC Sports’ live coverage continues now and throughout the weekend, with encore broadcasts on CBC TV and streaming on Sunday at 12 a.m. ET and at 1 p.m. ET.

WATCH | Canada’s women’s win over Ireland:

Watch Canada take on Ireland at the HSBC World Women’s Rugby Sevens Series from Hamilton, New Zealand.21:03

On the women’s side, a converted try by Hannah Tyrrell tied it at 7-7 before Kaili Lukan, with the Irish down a player after Louise Galvin was sin-binned for taking out a Canadian without the ball, scored before the break for a 12-7 Canadian lead.

Charity Williams and Lukan added to the Canadian lead with second-half tries. Landry finished with two conversions.

«The end result was good but we’ll look to keep getting better,» said Landry.

Add CBC’s official rugby live streaming schedule to your calendar

France defeated Spain 31-7 in the opening Pool C match. Canada faces No. 7 Spain later in the day before wrapping up group play against No. 5 France the next day.

The Canadian women came into the tournament fourth overall in the standings after three events on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the season opener in Colorado, they were runners-up in Dubai and third in Cape Town.

The Irish women were 10th overall.

Late steal helps men take win

The Canadian men arrived on the back of placing 10th in Dubai and 11th in Cape Town.

After a tight opening, Terry Kennedy opened the scoring for Ireland with a swerving run through the Canadian defence for a 7-0 lead. Andrew Coe, back from injury, brought Canada even with Nathan Hirayama adding the conversion.

Jake Thiel capped off a flowing Canadian attack that featured a string of offloads for a 14-7 lead at the break.

WATCH | Canada’s men’s win over Ireland:

Watch Canada take on Ireland at the HSBC World Men’s Rugby Sevens Series from Hamilton, New Zealand.27:21

A sloppy opening to the second half opened the way for Foster Horan to cut through the Toronto defence and tied it up at 14-14. The Canadians attacked back but were stymied by handling errors.

The Canadian pressure finally paid off in a Hirayama try on a set piece after an Irish penalty and Canada led 21-14.

Jordan Conroy booted the ball into the Canadian end after the restart, with the conversion tying it up at 21-12. Things looked bleak for Canada when Isaac Kaay was sin-binned for some a shove following the try.

Up a man, the Irish pressed for the winning try. But veteran Harry Jones pilfered a pass near his own goal-line and Berna eventually finished off the move with a try as the clock wound down.

«Unreal read by Harry,» Hirayama said of the steal.

The win raised Canada’s all-time record to 5-2-0 against Ireland, a new core team on the circuit. The Canadian men play No. 3 France later in the day.