RUGBY: Landy’s buzzer-beater wins Kitakyushu Sevens Series round for Canada

A happy Canadian squad celebrates after a memorable victory in the Kitakyushu tournament!

When it comes to superstars and rugby, Canada’s Ghislaine Landry is right up near the top. Star players are supposed to make big plays when it matters and Landry came through. Nearing the end of the final against tenacious England, Canada trailed 5-0, but Landry managed to score the equalizing try with just seconds left in the match. She made the conversion and gave the Canadians their first Women’s Sevens Series tournament victory since 2017.

Canada, the U.S. and France ripped through their pools undefeated, with the U.S. outscoring its opponents by 65-9! But in the playoffs, Canada dismissed the U.S. in the semis, 24-12 and England eliminated France, 19-17. A Sevens Series first occurred in the quarterfinals as both Australia and New Zealand were defeated and the semis did not include one of them for the first time in the six seasons of the tournament!

The U.S. started poorly against France, going down 0-12, but tries by Ilona Maher and Lauren Doyle before the half made the game close, and Naya Tapper had two tries to lead the Americans to a runaway 36-12 triumph.

In the overall series standings – with the top four teams qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 tournament – New Zealand continues to lead with 72 points, but with Canada (66), the U.S. (64) and Australia (56) all close. There are two more tournaments and mathematically, eight teams could get into the top four.

In terms of individuals, Landry continues as the top scorer in the series, with 143 points, but teammate Bianca Farella has the most tries, with 24. Summaries:

World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series
Kitakyushu (JPN) ~ 20-21 April 2019
(Full results here)

Final Standings: 1. Canada; 2. England; 3. United States; 4. France; 5. New Zealand; 6. Australia; 7. Ireland; 8. Russia. Semis: Canada d. U.S., 24-12; England d. France, 19-17. Third: U.S. d. France, 36-12. Final: Canada 7, England 5.