Rugby 7s | Canadian women lose in final and collect silver

(Paris) “Nobody expected us to be on the podium, but here we are.”

This quote from Charity Williams is probably the one that best sums up the silver medal won by the Canadian rugby sevens team on Tuesday.

Let us take the time, if you will, to summarize the journey of the representatives of the maple leaf.

They beat the French, silver medallists in Tokyo, in front of their supporters in the quarter-finals.

They defeated the Australian powerhouse in the semi-final.

Then they were one of the few, if not the only, team in the Olympic tournament to hold their own against the world’s number one team, New Zealand, despite losing in the final.

In other words, the Canadian team did not lose the gold. They won the silver in front of a fabulously packed and involved Stade de France.

Clearly, after a 19-12 loss in the Olympic final, there were mixed feelings among the players in the mixed zone. The full range of emotions was there. While Williams felt “happy, excited, honoured, grateful and proud,” Caroline Crossley spoke of “disappointment, pride, sadness, love” for her team. “Everything I could possibly feel, I feel right now,” Crossley added.

Each of the players who spoke to the media spoke about last year’s ranking; at this time in 2023, the Canadians were ninth in the world in the HSBC SVNS Series.

The Canadians may not be first, but they are second today, which is huge.

“We had a phenomenal year, we reached the top 4 “five times,” Hanratty continued. “When we got to the Olympics, there was one thing we hadn’t done and that was win a semi-final.”

It is now done.

“I think we had a lot of belief in ourselves,” said Chloe Daniels. “We’ve been training so hard this year. I think we wanted to peak for this game. I don’t know if a lot of people on the outside expected it, but within the group, we had a lot of confidence.”

” It’s beautiful “

The Canadians played in the semi-final and final on Tuesday. After a superb 19-14 victory over the Australians, they faced the best team in the world and the Tokyo Games champions.

They didn’t do badly in the final. After trailing 7-0, they stepped up their game late in the first half. They made it 7-7 thanks to Chloe Daniels, who took a superb pass from captain Olivia Apps. Seconds later, they did it again through Alysha Corrigan. It was only the second time in the tournament that a team had scored two tries against New Zealand, imagine that.

The latter applied pressure at the end of the match to regain the lead and win 19-12.

After the game, the Reds formed a circle on the pitch. “It was just a recognition that we gave everything in that game,” Crossley said. “It was close. That’s what rugby sevens is all about. […] We were just very proud of our performance.”

“This whole day is like a dream,” she added. “I’m still in shock from our quarter-final match. [contre la France, lundi]. »

“I’m so proud,” said Charity Williams. “Half of this team is under 25 and we just won a silver medal. It’s beautiful.”

Inspire

Asked what the medal means to Canadian rugby sevens, Williams said unabashedly that he is “at the top, with the best.”

The exceptional performance of the Canadian women has awakened the country’s passion for rugby in recent days. Perhaps it will have created future players.

“To be able to finish with a silver medal, I hope it inspires the next generation of Canadians,” said Jack Hanratty.

“I hope it creates more excitement and more media coverage for rugby sevens because it’s such a great sport,” Crossley said. “We have so many talented players in Canada.”

This is exactly what we found.

A thought for Krissy Scurfield

Several players were thinking of teammate Krissy Scurfield, who needed surgery after being injured in a preliminary match against New Zealand. She missed the rest of the tournament. “We FaceTimed her straight after the game,” Caroline Crossley said. “We wanted to make sure she felt included in all of this. She’s been with us every step of the way. We wouldn’t be here without her.”