Canada into semi-finals, Australia score late winner against USA

Canada have bounced back from a dramatic defeat to New Zealand in style, running away with a relentless 52-0 win over Great Britain, which has ultimately seen them qualify for the HSBC SVNS Singapore semi-finals.

Australia will play Canada on Sunday for a spot in the Cup Final, with the women in gold placing first in Pool A with a 3-0 record. SVNS Series debutant Maya Stewart, who is the all-time leading Wallaroos try-scorer, was among the standouts for the Aussies on day one.

New Zealand followed their nail-biting triumph over Canada with another comprehensive win, as they chase their third straight title in Singapore. Jorja Miller continued to impress as the Black Ferns Sevens defeated Great Britain 64-0 and France by 48.

Miller was the hero for New Zealand in that enthralling Pool B match earlier on day one in the Lion City, crossing for the match-winning try with less than 20 seconds left. That made Canada’s final pool match a must-win, in a bid to make their first semi-final of the 2025/26 season.

Canada have welcomed back some 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup stars for the events in Singapore and Perth, and it seemed to give the team a noticeable lift n Saturday. Olivia Apps is one of those players back on the sevens circuit, with the playmaker scoring twice against New Zealand.

Apps followed that with another try in Canada’s final pool match, with the Olympian soring the opening try of the match against GB. Canada took an early lead and they never looked back, running away with a statement result ahead of Cup knockouts.

Breanne Nicholas, Kennedi Stevenson and Alysha Corrigan all scored one, while Krissy Scurfield and Sabrina Poulin completed doubles. Canada defeated France 29-24 in an extra-time thriller to start the event, which was ultimately the difference in the race for semi-final qualification.

“You’re going into that game with a winning mindset and I think the most important was getting that zero (scored against),” Scurfield said post-game on the broadcast.

“I think we’re really stoked on that, we didn’t want to have any tries conceded.

“We have a new group this tournament and we only had two weeks together so this first day has been really great for us, this is exactly what we wanted.”

New Zealand secured top spot in Pool B with a 55-7 win against France. Miller opened the scoring in the first minute and the Black Ferns Sevens ran away with the result from there, with seven different try-scorers making their mark.

Kelsey Teneti, Stacey Waaka (double), Mahina Paul, Katelyn Vahaakolo, Alena Saili (double) and Jaymie Kolose all got on the scoresheet as the Black Ferns Sevens kept their unbeaten start to SVNS Singapore going with a clinical performance.

“Our goal today was to just set the platform. We felt we did that with GB and Canada was a bit more of a grind but we knew that last game was more of a mental thing,” Paul said post-game.

“We had to come out and turn up… I’m proud of the girls’ performances tonight.”

Australia avoided a potential semi-final against New Zealand with a 26-19 win over the USA. Stewart raced away for the match-winner with less than one minute left. At the time, Australia were down to six players after Kaitlan Shave was shown a yellow card.

With Shave still on the sidelines, Australia had an attacking lineout inside their own half. They spread the ball wide left to Stewart, with the debutant showcasing her elite speed that’s made her a history-maker in international 15s.

 

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Women’s SVNS Singapore semi-finals

Australia vs Canada at 2:08 pm (local time)

New Zealand vs USA at 2:30 pm (local time)