Pan Am games: Gold x2 for Canada

(GaryColdwellsRugbyPhoto)

 

Sunday July 12th brought the end to what was a fantastic spectacle of rugby 7’s at the Pan Am games in Toronto. The previous day’s events were scintillating, with Argentina and the U.S.A finishing atop their pools. The story was quite the same in the women’s side of the tournament, full of excitement with Canada and the U.S.A seeded the highest after day 1’s pool play.

(GaryColdwellRugbyPhoto)

Leading into the finals, the American men’s side had the top seed after demolishing all competition by a combined score of 126-7. Canada fell to a good Argentine squad day 1, and were seeded 3rd as the final day began. The women’s side saw some intense action as well, with Canada coming first in day 1 of preliminary pool play after beating Columbia, Mexico, and Brazil by a combined score of, 151-0. Having recently qualified for the Olympics the U.S.A women’s team was coming into the games on a hot streak, demolishing all competition at Rio qualifying. This momentum was carried forward into the Pan Am games as they seeded second heading into the medal round.

(GaryColdwellRugbyPhoto)

The Canucks dispatched America 26-19 in the men’s semi final in what was an intense match. With a roaring crowd at their backs the boys in red raced up to 12-0 lead, until Carlin Isles got the ball and raced up the pitch for his first try of the game. Admir Cejvanovic landed a humongous late hit on Isles, and Canada was down to 6 men with the Yellow card. The second half saw the Americans take the lead at 19-12, Nate Hirayama scored a beautiful try and tied up the game with his conversion making the score 19-19. With minutes to go, the crowd was going absolutely wild and the big hitting bandit Admir was back on the pitch with a try in the dying moments of the second half. The feeling at the stadium was electric, 30,000 fans cheering their hearts out after. As predicted, Canada took back the bragging rights as the number one force in North American rugby. It was time for the men’s final.

(GaryColdwellRugbyPhoto)

At 8pm the Gold medal competition began, Argentina were quick on the board racking up a score of 12-0. Canada was able to put up a try right before halftime, thanks to Conor Trainor. Trainor caught the kick off right after half time and ran straight down the field scoring, to tie the game at 12-12. The Argentinians weren’t going down without a fight with Santiago Alvarez dotting down, with the conversion it was 19-12 for the Pumas. Phil Mack had other plans though, slipping his way through for a try to pull the score to 19-17. Again, with one minute to play Canada created a wee bit of magic. The ball got swung across the field to Nate Hirayama, where he chipped the ball over the defenders to a galloping Harry Jones who was met by two Argentine players. As they tried to hold him up he powered through them both, getting the try right at the end.

(GaryColdwellRugbyPhoto.ca)

The action wasn’t just in the men’s side. Canada’s women’s team put on a clinic, showing the world why they are one of the best 7’s teams on the planet. With only 19 points scored against them over the tournament, Canada walked over the States 55-7 in the final. The Americans just couldn’t get anything going, they were simply outclassed in what was an outstanding performance by the Canadian Women’s team.

In what was perhaps a foreshadowing of next summers Olympics, Canada’s Women’s team showed their potential for medalling in Rio. Toronto got their first taste of the 7’s experience, and it was one the home crowd will never forget.

All photos provided by GaryColdwellsRugbyPhoto with permission.