Canada qualify for SVNS 3 with RAN Sevens gold

Back-to-back gold medal finishes at RAN Sevens have qualified Canada’s Men for January’s HSBC SVNS 3 event.

On the final day of competition, the North Americans beat host nation Trinidad and Tobago 40-0 in the semi-final and Barbados 31-nil in the gold medal game.

Over the course of the three-day competition the Canadians, led by interim head coach Christiaan Esterhuizen, conceded only 14 points and registered 225 in attack.

Canada’s success came a year after the team won the same event in Barbados.

There was a return to the field for Lockie Kratz, who had been injured for the last 22 months and half a dozen debutants in Esterhuizen’s team.

“We wanted to test ourselves in this tournament and I think we got that,” Kratz, who captained Canada, said. “We had a lot of good games, and we are just building towards the next tournament in the new year.

“The team had a lot of fun, showed well and just overall happy with our performance. We had six debutants this tournament who all did really well.

“It’s about getting the boys more in tune with what to expect on the bigger stage and the pace of play. We are trying to build here and it’s been a great weekend.”

As part of the newly formatted HSBC SVNS Series, being one of the top two teams at SVNS 3 in January will gain the Canadians promotion to SVNS 2.