Canada rugby 7s men suffer nightmarish start in Madrid in bid to avoid relegation

Canada's bid to avoid relegation from the HSBC SVNS circuit got off to a nightmarish start Friday in a 41-7 loss to Uruguay.

And it went from bad to worse for the Canadian men in their second game when, after Jack Carson gave Canada a 14-12 lead under the posts with just seconds remaining, Germany responded with a converted try by Jakob Dipper with the clock in the red for a 19-14 win.

The two losses mean Canada will face a tougher foe Sunday when relegation is on the line in Madrid.

The Canadian men found themselves behind the 8-ball against Uruguay when Matt Owuru was shown a red card for a high tackle on Bautista Basso just 53 seconds into the match. There was more pain in the second half when Kalin Sager was shown a yellow, reducing Canada to five men for two minutes.

Uruguay took advantage of its superiority in numbers, running in five of its seven tries in the second half under the sunshine at Civitas Metropolitano Stadium, home of the Atletico Madrid soccer club.

Juan Gonzalez and Basso had two tries apiece while Diego Ardao, Mateo Vinals and Juan Manual Tafernaberry added singles for Uruguay, which led 12-7 at the half. Guillermo Lijtenstein kicked two conversions and Tafernaberry booted one.

Thomas Isherwood scored Canada's lone try, on a marvellous solo run in the third minute. Cooper Coats added the conversion.

Coats scored Canada's other try against Germany, which finished fourth in the second-tier HSBC Challenger Series.

It marked the 27th straight loss for the Canadians, whose last win was Dec. 10 in Cape Town, a 33-17 victory over France to finish seventh on the second stop of the HSBC SVNS campaign.

Canada placed last on the other six stops, compiling a dismal 3-32-0 over the seven events that preceded