The Men’s 15’s Rugby Canada team now has to hope and pray that the USA collapse against Japan in the final round robin game of the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) after a poor performance in the second half of their match against Japan, failing to secure the all needed bonus point that would’ve sent Canada back to the Rugby World Cup (RWC). The first half was as expected, keeping Japan close finishing the half down 17-10 and within striking position for the bonus point of losing with 7 points or less, it was not meant to be as a combination of being overpowered by Japan and ball handling mistakes as well as putting the boot to ball too often lead to an abysmal 57-15 final.
The hope is dwindling as if USA win with the try bonus point the tiebreaker is points differential, Canada finishes the round robin portion with a -28 PD, well below USA’s -14. A win by the US without the bonus point does move Canada through to the RWC as well as a Japan win no matter what bonus points the US pick up. It all hinges on one match and Canada isn’t involved in the matter. USA vs Japan is available to watch in Canada live on TSN+ on September 6 at 7pm MT.
On the other side of the ledger the Women’s 15’s team competing at the RWC in England are 2 for 2 and are cruising into the quarterfinals as they are unable to finish pool play no worse than second after a dominate display against Wales. 42-0 was the final. Julia Schell is a breakout star for Canada after a Canadian record (men’s and women’s) 6 tries in a single match against Fiji in the space of 23 minutes. Canada will face either the number one ranked England or number seven ranked Australia, based on results of the final pool A and B games, Australia vs England on September 6 at 10am MT, and Canada vs Scotland on September 6 at 5am MT.
The women’s teams best finish at a RWC was in 2014 losing to England 21-9 in the Rugby World Cup Finals.
Let’s Go CANADA
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