Canada’s men’s rugby sevens team ends a 29-match losing streak with a win in last chance for Olympic qualifying

The Canadian men ended a 29-match losing streak with a much-needed 31-12 win over Uganda at the World Rugby Sevens Repechage tournament.

Twelve men’s and twelve women’s teams compete for the last spot on the Olympic field. The fifth-seeded Canadian women have already qualified for Paris.

Matt Oworu scored two tries and Ethan Hager, captain Phil Berna and Cooper Coats added singles for Canada, which led 26-7 at halftime at StadeLouis II.

Adrian Kasito scored two tries for Uganda, who finished sixth in the second tier of the World Rugby HSBC Challenger Series.

The Canadians were relegated from the elite HSBC SVNS series earlier this month in Madrid after a 3-36-0 campaign that ended with a lengthy losing streak as they finished last in the 12-team standings.

The Canadian men, who finished eighth at the Tokyo Olympics, have been a core team in the top seven circuit since 2012-13 and won the trophy in Singapore in 2017. Now they will have to fight their way back to the top level.

Canada plays China and number 8 Great Britain in Pool B on Saturday. Great Britain dumped China 35-19 in the opener on Friday.

The top two from each of the three groups plus the two best third places advance to the quarter-finals.

Canada fell behind early after Uganda regained the ball from the kick-off and Kasito scored shortly afterwards.

Hager answered for Canada and scored after gaining territory with a kick into space. The powerful Oworu then powered his way over the try-line after some fine work at the breakdown of Berna and Thomas Isherwood.

Berna himself scored from a lineout after Uganda were punished and Oworu added his second try before half-time, with Coats scoring from a quick tap-in penalty from close range in the second half.

Kasito added a late consolation try for the Africans.

The strong men’s field in Monaco also includes No. 7 South Africa and No. 10 Spain of the HSBC SVNS circuit. The other teams seeking the final Olympic men’s spot are Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Spain, Tonga and Uganda.

Great Britain won silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics and finished fourth at the Tokyo Games.

South Africa collected bronze in Rio and has three World Series season titles and finished second nine times. The Blitzboks also won this season’s opening event in Dubai.

Host country Spain delivered the final blow in Canada’s relegation battle in Madrid on June 3 with a 22-14 victory.

Canada has previously competed in the qualifier for Monaco and was defeated 14-12 by Russia in the 2016 rematch quarter-finals.

The Canadian men had not won since December 10 in Cape Town – a 33-17 victory over France to finish seventh in the second stop of the season. Canada finished last in the other six events, going winless in Dubai, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Madrid produced four more defeats in the relegation round.

The relegation battle was a product of the sevens circuit, with the number of men’s teams reduced from 16 to 12 to align with the women’s competition and the Olympic field.

The Canadian men survived last year’s four-team World Series relegation play-off, beating Kenya 12-7 in London in the final after a last-minute effort from Alex Russell to retain his core status.

The Olympic men’s field in Paris already includes hosts France plus New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia, who booked their tickets by finishing in the top four of the HSBC SVNS series this season. They are joined by six winners of regional qualifiers: Uruguay (South America), Ireland (Europe), USA (North America), Kenya (Africa), Samoa (Oceania) and Japan (Asia).

The Americans defeated Canada 24-14 in the final of the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens last August in Langford, BC. The Canadian women defeated Mexico 53-0 in their final to qualify for Paris.