Canada Women returned to Vancouver to a heroic welcome following their silver medal winning performance at Paris 2024 Olympics with two huge wins. Charity Williams secured her 100th HSBC SVN Series try straight out of the gate against Brazil and went one further taking her to 101. They continued the momentum with a seven-try bonanza against Spain sitting top of pool A heading into day two.
Williams commented on her milestone “That’s probably the milestone for me that I’m really proud of. I’m really proud of myself for being in the game for as long as I have. It was awesome to get the ball from our captain who has been wonderful and it felt good touch that one down for sure.
“It brings me back to the very beginning when I was 16 or 17 and I think I scored my first try in Brazil, it literally feels like a lifetime ago and I was like a baby then and I had no idea what was instore for me. To look back and see that I’ve been here for over a decade, I’m just really grateful.”
Olympic Champions, New Zealand continued their winning ways in pool B with two comfortable wins with Michaela Brake showcasing why she’s the all-time leading try scorer for the tournament taking five of the 10 tries against Ireland and surpassing her compatriot Portia Woodman-Wickliffe to set a new record of 260, helping the team to cruise into Saturday’s quarter-finals.
Japan closed out day one on top of pool C after securing victories over Fiji and Great Britain. Meanwhile, France, after back-to-back losses, will be looking to bounce back with a crucial win against Japan tomorrow to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
The biggest upset of the day came at the very end as Brazil edged out second-placed Australia, setting the stage for an electrifying showdown on day two.
In one of the biggest games of the opening round, South Africa just pipped New Zealand 12-10 in an end-to-end game that could have seen either team come out victorious and followed it with an impressive win against Ireland that saw them sit top of pool B at the end of day one.
In a result against the seedings, pool A saw Great Britain take an impressive opening win against France 7-26 but they will have to wait until day two to see if they qualify for the quarter-finals following their close defeat to Argentina.
Meanwhile in Pool C, Spain maintained their strong form in the series with a pair of victories over the USA and Uruguay, joining Fiji at the top, who also secured maximum points against the same opponents.
The pool phase continues from 10:30 (GMT-8) on Saturday heading into the quarters in the afternoon. All the action rounds-off at Sunday’s finals day which begins at 10:50 with the men’s and women’s finals at 17:05 and 17:41 respectively.
Building on Perth, the women's final will once again be the tournament's grand finale, taking center stage on Sunday evening and closing out HSBC SVNS Vancouver in style.
RESULTS, POOLS AND FIXTURES >>
This year’s Vancouver SVNS festival is bigger than ever as the Canadian leg of the series celebrates its 10 year anniversary. Alongside the epic rugby sevens action, featuring the world’s best 12 men’s and women’s teams packed with Olympic stars, fans in the stands can enjoy global food offerings, live bands, interactive activities including a snowball obstacle course and a first for the SVNS Series, a competitive axe throwing competition from the captains!
Outside of BC Place, there will also be seven rugby-themed light installations set up in iconic spots around downtown Vancouver all weekend following on from the success of a similar fan-favourite activation when Taylor Swift was in town.
Fans are urged to secure their tickets to avoid disappointment and be part of the action. Remaining tickets are available from www.svns.com
Fans can watch the HSBC SVNS action wherever you are in the world, either via broadcaster partners or on www.RugbyPassTV.
