It was a good weekend for the Canadian sevens squad in Wellington, winning the Bowl and beating both South Africa and Fiji, but let’s not get carried away just yet.
In the context of historical precedent, this was the fifth time we have beaten the Blitzbokke, and only the second time we have bettered the Flying Fijians. Of the two it would appear that the latter is more impressive, and indeed IRB commentator Nigel Starmer-Smith suggested that it would be a significant upset, but sport has no memory of previous encounters and there are perhaps better indicators of whether we were really such underdogs.
Let’s sidetrack for a moment, and rewind back to Hong Kong in late March of 2004, the date of Canada’s first victory over Fiji. The Islanders were third on the log and had been performing fairly well with a powerful squad containing six players who had or would go on to win full test caps, and three players – Jone Daunivucu, Mesake Davu, and Nasoni Roko – who would be in the conversation if you were debating their country’s greatest ever sevens exponents.
Coached by the popular Ric “Sluggo” Suggitt, Canada was building towards the 2005 World Cup and had a core of strong players including captain Marco DiGirolamo, the colourful playmaker Mike “Disco” Danskin, all-time appearance leader Shane Thompson, and all-time try scoring leader David Moonlight. Even given that, nobody would have predicted that Christoph Strubin’s try two minutes from full time would have secured a famous 14-12 win over Fiji in Hong Kong of all places, as close to home field advantage as its gets for the flying magicians.
Back to the current day, heading into the Wellington tournament Fiji were again ranked 3rd overall, and South Africa 4th, but neither team has been in great form. Paul Treu’s men were without captain Kyle Brown, Steven Hunt, and impressive newcomer Ruwellyn Isbell, all of whom have featured prominently on the circuit. Despite that they still featured a reasonably strong side, though they looked very flat in the first game defeat to Samoa.
The Fijians, on the other hand, had retained only three players from Dubai, and had looked very ordinary in their pool losses to Scotland and Australia. Of the twelve man squad, only four players had more than one tournament to their name, and at the conclusion of the tournament it had to be said that only those four – Setefano Cakau, Joji Raqamate, Ilai Tinai, and Nemani Nagusa – looked like they belonged. The Fijians have been had little consistency in selection this season, which is a result of the fact that coaches Alifereti Dere and Timoci Wainiqolo are at the mercy of a selection committee for their final squad selection, a policy that is very evidently not working out.
In terms of sevens experience, the South African squad had played in a combined 137 previous tournaments, about middle of the pack, while Fiji had only 67, a number buoyed by Cakau’s immense individual tally of 38 tournament caps. Only Tonga had less experience, but they are not a core team and rarely feature in more than three or four tournaments a season. By contrast Geraint John and Kieran Crowley were able to call upon the experience of 172 IRB tournaments and 90 full test caps.
The point is that in the context of form and experience, Canada should have been favoured to beat Fiji, regardless of their historical standing, and at least be competitive against South Africa. Indeed that early pool match is probably a more impressive victory given the relative strength of the Blitzbokke, with the confidence taken from that win surely contributing to the bowl victory. It’s important to note that both captain Nanyak Dala and star playmaker Phil Mack were injured and did not play in the final, though replacements Tyler Ardron and Taylor Paris proved more than capable replacements.
Another thing to consider is the big picture – our standing on the overall series rankings. Despite taking eight points, our second highest of the season, we still dropped from 10th overall to 11th thanks to England’s victory that came completely against their run of form and vaulted them up to 8th place. With a top 12 finish ensuring that we retain our core status without requalification, our four point lead over Portugal is precarious. A resurgent Scotland is only a point behind in 13th, and both Spain and the United States are still very much in the running.
To be sure, this was good weekend for the team but it should be viewed as a stepping stone. Its true importance in terms of building a culture of belief within the squad won’t be known until we establish a consistency of performance, something that we have struggled with at the best of times. To his credit, after a disappointing – albeit ultimately successful – showing during last year’s Hong Kong tournament, which doubled as a core status qualifier, Geraint John has his men playing with renewed vigour and their attacking game is now among the very best on the circuit. The problems have come from lapses in defense, which must be a focus from here on in.
Sean Duke is probably the best example of this fact. Heading into Las Vegas he sits atop the series try-scoring charts with an impressive 21 from four tournaments, and has been nearly unstoppable with a yard of space. On the flipside he has missed several tackles, either by going too high or simply falling off, something that he will have to address going forwards. For a winger he is now on the bigger end of the spectrum so his problems are very much mental rather than physical.
The increasingly influential Nathan Hirayama is another who has impressed, not only with his playmaking but also with his support play and his superb conversion skills. His combination with first Phil Mack and then Taylor Paris has been world class. His defensive alignment has not looked as sharp but the good news is it’s something he can fix relatively quickly.
A special mention must go to Ciaran Hearn, who was exceptional on the weekend, probably the best he has ever performed in a Canadian jersey. Hearn has suffered from inconsistency and a penchant for making unforced errors in the past, but there was none of that in Wellington. Some of his offloads were truly Sonny Bill-esque, and he was just as physical in the tackle. Worryingly he appeared to damage his arm near the end of the final, but he seems to have recovered and is fit to play in Las Vegas.
Lastly, a few words for John Moonlight. The Ajax lad has enjoyed an impressive few months. His reserve appearances for the senior tour in November were full of energy, and his tenacity and unrelenting work rate has been a real boost to the sevens side. His passion was there for all to see when he crossed for the richly deserved clinching try at the end of the final. He and his brother now share bragging rights as part of a very small club in Canadian rugby. After nine dark years of defeat to Fiji, it seems what we needed was a Moonlight to lead the way.
