PERTH — The Canadian women have been drawn in Pool B alongside Britain, Fiji and the U.S. at the HSBC SVNS Perth in Australia later this month.
The Perth event, the third round of the seven-stop rugby sevens season, runs Jan. 24-26 at HBF Park.
Canada stands seventh in the overall standings after finishing eighth in the season-opening tournament in Dubai and fifth in Cape Town. The Canadian women went 1-4-0 in Dubai and 3-1-0 in Cape Town.
The U.S. stands fourth overall while Britain is fifth and Fiji 11th.
After Perth, the teams head to Vancouver for the fourth stop of the season Feb. 21-23 at B.C. Place Stadium. The circuit then moves to Hong Kong and Singapore before wrapping up May 3-4 in Carson, Calif.
The Singapore event will crown the SVNS season winners before the top eight men's and women's teams take part in the winner-takes-all world championship at California's Dignity Health Sports Park.
New Zealand currently leads the women's standings after winning in Cape Town and finishing runner-up to Australia in Dubai. The Australians, who finished fourth in Cape Town, are second ahead of France, which finished third at both events.
The Olympic silver medallist Canadian women finished fifth in the standings last season before losing 26-14 to New Zealand in June in Madrid in the third-place game. Australia won the women's title, defeating France 26-7.
Fiji leads the current men's standings, ahead of Spain, France and South Africa.
Canada's men dropped off the circuit last June after being beaten 22-14 by Spain in a relegation decider in Madrid. They are looking to climb back to the sevens' top tier via World Rugby's second-tier Challenger Series.
Olympic women's champion New Zealand was drawn in Pool A in Perth with Japan, Ireland and Brazil. Host Australia is in Pool C with France, China and Spain.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2025
The Canadian Press
