Canadian rugby women finish sixth in Dubai, the opening stop of the HSBC SVNS season

The New Zealand women, who survived a 21-17 loss to the U.S. in pool play, had finished runner-up to Australia at the last three events in Dubai.

Japan won its first-ever medal on the HSBC SVNS series by downing Fiji 22-12 to finish third on the women’s side.

The New Zealand men held off a second-half Australia rally to win the gold-medal game 26-22. Fiji dispatched France 24-7 to finish third.

Kennedi Stevenson and Charity Williams scored Canada’s tries against the U.S. Asia Hogan-Rochester added a conversion.

Stevenson opened the scoring in the second minute after a fine run by Hogan-Rochester before Kristi Kirshe cut through the Canadian defence two minutes later to pull the Americans even at 7-7.

Hogan-Rochester needed treatment midway through the half after taking an accidental boot to the face but stayed in the game.

Kaylen Thomas put the Americans ahead 12-7 early in the second half, outpacing the Canadian defence. Williams repaid the favour, racing down the sideline after Hogan-Rochester won a penalty with fine work at the breakdown.

Williams celebrated her try with a somersault before Hogan-Rochester’s conversion gave Canada a 14-12 lead.

But Sariah Ibarra broke Canadian several tackles before passing off to Sarah Levy for the winning try in the 13th minute, snapping a four-game losing streak against Canada.

“Even though it was a fifth-place match, it felt like the final to us,” said Levy.

Canada was without Krissy Scurfield, who failed her head injury assessment.

The Canadian women now head to South Africa for next weekend’s tournament in Cape Town, the second of nine stops this season. Canada will join Australia, Japan and France in Pool B.

Canada missed out on the Dubai semifinals due to a costly 21-19 loss to Japan in its final Pool B game Saturday. Leading 19-7, the Canadians conceded two tries in the final two minutes to fall to third place in the pool — one point behind Japan.

Group winner Australia and runner-up Japan moved on to the semifinals while Canada was consigned to placement play.

The Canadians bounced back from the Japan loss on Sunday by beating France 19-12 in the fifth-place semifinal with Monique Coffey’s 12th-minute converted try deciding the match. Breanne Nicholas and Hogan-Rochester also scored Canadian tries.

In earlier Group B play, Canada defeated Britain 41-5.

World Rugby has revamped the HSBC SVNS format, reducing the field to just eight men’s and eight women’s teams for the first six events of the season — including the March 7-8 stop in Vancouver. The field will then expand for the final three stops, with promotion-relegation in the table.

The Canadian men, relegated in June 2024, are still looking to climb their way back into the top tier.

The men had hoped to reclaim their place via a promotion-relegation playoff series in May after climbing out of the second-tier Challenger Series. But World Rugby rejigged the entire sevens series structure ahead of the season-ending tournament in California, taking promotion off the table.

Having just won the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens in Trinidad, the Canadian men continue their climb up the sevens ladder at the HSBC SVNS 3 on Jan. 17-18 in Dubai.

The Canadian women finished eighth in Dubai last December. They followed that by placing fifth in Cape Town, fourth in Perth, seventh in Vancouver and third in both Hong Kong and Singapore to stand fourth overall in the six-event regular-season standings in advance of the HSBC SVNS Championship in May.

Canada won bronze at that championship finale in Carson, Calif., defeating the U.S. 27-7.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2025

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Canadian rugby women finish sixth in Dubai, the opening stop of the HSBC SVNS season

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