The Canadian women ran into a buzz saw in Fiji at the Rugby World Cup Sevens on Sunday, losing 53-0 to conclude sixth in the 16-team field.
Fifth-seeded Canada trailed 34-0 at the half as No. 6 Fiji, claiming one restart after another, ran in six of its nine tries before the break.
Fiji retained the opening kickoff and pulled into a 10-0 lead on tries by Reapi Ulunisau and Alowesi Nakoci in the first two minutes. The Fijians breached the Canadian defense again as Ana Maria Naimasi fended off Florence Symonds to extend the lead to 15-0 after four minutes.
The onslaught continued with Sesenielie Donu fending off Breanne Nicholas en route to the try-line. Fiji won the ball back at the restart and Ulunisau scored under the posts. The conversion made it 27-0 for Fiji.
It was more of the same at the next kickoff with Raijieli Daveua climbing high to corral the ball and then off-loading to Ulunisau to score under the posts and complete the first-half barrage.
Lavenia Cavuru, Adi Vani Buleka and Donu added tries in the second half to complete the rout for Fiji.
The teams had split their two previous meetings on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series with Fiji winning 28-26 in Dubai and Canada prevailing 26-19 in Langford, B.C.
Earlier Sunday, the 10th-seeded Canadian men concluded 13th in the 24-team men’s field, reeling off 12 consecutive points to down No. 17 Chile for a 12-10 comeback win.
The Canadian women, runner-up to New Zealand at the 2013 tournament in Moscow, finished seventh four years ago in San Francisco. The Canadian men’s best showing was a fifth-place finish in 2001 in Argentina. They were 12th four years ago.
Olivia de Couvreur scored two tries with singles from Nicholas and Keyara Wardley as Canada, scoring 22 straight points after conceding a fourth-minute try to Abbie Brown, downed No. 8 England 22-7 to open play Sunday.
De Couvreur was initially a travelling reserve but moved into the playing squad after an injury to veteran Bianca Farella, who ranks second on the World Series all-time try-scoring list with 157.
The 22-year-old de Couvreur was one of seven players on Canada’s 13-woman roster aged 22 or under. The Canadian women fell out of championship contention in a 10-7 loss to the fourth-seeded Americans in quarter-final play Saturday.
