Canadian men 1 loss away from relegation from elite rugby 7s circuit

Canada's men's rugby sevens team faces an uphill battle to avoid relegation from the HSBC SVNS circuit after finishing bottom of its group Saturday in Madrid.

After losses to Uruguay and Germany on Friday, the Canadian men were beaten 14-7 by the U.S. on Saturday to finish fourth in Qualifier Pool A. That means they will play the Pool B winner Sunday with relegation from the 12-country elite rugby sevens series on the line.

Unbeaten Spain topped Pool B going into its preliminary-round finale against Samoa later Saturday.

Teams in the eight-team qualifier series cross over Sunday with A1 versus B4, 2A versus 3B, 3A versus 2B and 4A versus 1B. The winners of the four crossover matches earn core status for next season while the losers drop down to the second-tier Challenger Series.

The Canadian men have been a core team on the top sevens circuit since 2012-13. While Canada's men fight for survival, the fifth-ranked Canadian women are going after a trophy in the eight-team championship bracket.

Canada's women held on to upset No. 1 New Zealand 26-17 Saturday with a game against Britain to come later in the day.

Charity Williams, Olivia Apps, Piper Logan and Keyara Wardley scored tries in a famous victory for Canada, which had lost 27 straight to the Black Ferns seven squad since 2016. The Canadians led 21-0 at the half which ended with New Zealand's Jorja Miller in the sin-bin.

Canada built its lead to 26-0 in the second half before Stacey Waaka, with her 100th try on the circuit, Miller and Jazmin Felix-Hotham answered for New Zealand.

The Canadians opened with a 26-19 loss Friday to the U.S. in Championship Pool A.

The Canada men survived a four-team relegation playoff last year, defeating Kenya 12-7 in London in the final