Canada is the Rugby Americas North representative to the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), going 5-0 at the Las Vegas qualifying series. The final was contested inside Sam Boyd Stadium before the USA 7s kicked off for the day, and the Canada U18 girls defeated the USA 36-5 for the ticket to Buenos Aires in October.
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Canada defeated the USA 14-5 during the round-robin portion of the qualifier, but had to rally from a USA-dictated first half.
“The pool play is always a bit tricky because you don’t get to play tough opponents, and when you meet the USA the first time you know they’re going to be physical, you know they’re going to be aggressive. And they caught us off-guard that first half,” Canada U18 head coach Sandro Fiorino said of Friday’s match. “And so we had to go back and watch the film and do some reflection and come to the conclusion that we didn’t play our best game. The girls worked really hard last night coming up with a plan and they followed through today.”
A couple of penalties saw Canada with a few attacking opportunities early on, and Keyara Wardley, a full-time carded athlete with Women’s Sevens Series potential, took an offload out of contact for the final’s first try. The USA evened up, keeping composure during a defensive stand in its own 22 meter, and moving the ball wide to Ariana Ramsey for the pull-away, centered try, 5-5.
After a Canadian knock-on and then penalty, the USA moved the ball wide to Susan Adegoke, who was stood up in the tackle. Canada had two players on the ball and wrestled it free. Maggie MacKinnon slipped through the defense for the long-range try and momentum shifter. Fiorino pointed to both MacKinnon and the fast, agile Delaney Aikens at scrumhalf as two of the standout newcomers in the final. Wardley and Taylor Black, who were part of Canada’s silver medal Youth Commonwealth Games team, provided the veteran leadership.
“We wanted to play a more aggressive defense – take away time and space and really focus on our positioning,” Fiorino said of the plan against the USA. “And then on turnover attack, really create some turnovers and put pressure on them. And then execute on that.”
Canada enforced its game plan in the second half and the USA became visibly frustrated. Flat lines saw some knock-ons and forward passes, and the players struggled to connect. Canada pushed for another four tries, with Wardley and Kally King among the try-scorers and Black adding the extras, 36-5.
“It’s always a good thing when there are lessons learned. That’s what life’s about; that’s what rugby’s about,” Fiorino confirmed that Friday’s game against the USA was integral to today’s turn-around. “You learn from your mistakes and good teams go back and adjust and put a plan together.”
The next six months will see the U18 player pool assemble a few times, and Fiorino indicated that there are talks for a Canada vs. USA series at the Can-Ams in Saranac Lake this summer. The team won’t be heading to the European U18 7s Championship because those teams will be trying to qualify for the YOG, too. The players will, however, benefit from a set-up that isn’t replicated in the U.S.
“We have two training hubs in Canada right now,” Fiorino explained. “There’s a west hub, where some of the girls are with the centralized group, but there is a high school there that they train out of, high performance. And I’m in Toronto now with an Ontario high performance group. So we have two regional groups.”
Canada’s boys also won the Rugby Americas North qualifier over the USA, but their attendance will depend on the performance of Canada boys’ field hockey team. If the Canada wins the field hockey qualifier, then the USA boys will be next in line for the berth.
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