Canadian women lose Hong Kong 7s quarterfinal while Canada men's losing streak grows

After winning their pool with three straight wins, the Canadian women ran into a New Zealand buzz saw Saturday in the Cup quarterfinal at the Hong Kong Sevens.

New Zealand, which stands second in the overall standings after winning the last two stops on the HSBC SVNS circuit, raced to a 21-0 lead before Shalaya Valenzuela scored a late try for Canada. But that's as close as the Canadians would come in dropping a 26-5 decision.

Canada had defeated the No. 4 Americans (12-5), No. 11 Japan (24-5) and No. 12 Spain (14-7) to finish atop Pool C at Hong Kong Stadium.

New Zealand came in as defending champion but finished second in Pool A after a 26-21 upset loss to France.

No. 1 Australia and No. 2 New Zealand meet in one women's semifinal while the No. 4 Americans play No. 3 France in the other.

The Canadians, who came into the tournament fifth overall after five events, will face Fiji on Sunday in the fifth-place playoff.

It was another tough day for the rebuilding Canadian men, who are 12th and last in the standings after collecting a minimum one-point in four of the first five events.

Canada, featuring four Series debutantes on its roster, finished last in Pool A after losses to No. 3 Fiji (45-5), No. 4 France (31-0) and No. 5 Australia (31-0). The Australian team featured Michael Hooper, who won 125 test caps including 69 as captain with the Wallabies 15s side.

Canada found itself in the ninth-place playoff, amazingly against Series leader Argentina.

The high-flying Pumas, who have won three tournaments with one runner-up finish this season, came to Hong Kong with a 20-point lead in the overall standings. But they fell into the consolation bracket after losing 14-10 to the U.S. and 22-0 to New Zealand in pool play.

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