Canadian men’s rugby team sees progress with 10th-place finish in Vancouver

VANCOUVER — A 17-7 loss to Ireland Sunday was a frustrating end for Canada at the HSBC Canada Sevens tournament but a team that had struggled recently found some confidence and managed to move up the overall series standings.

“There’s a lot of good stuff here,” said head coach Henry Paul. “We gave the crowd something to get behind, a lot of good tries, lots of good defence. We’re really working hard as a team.

“This is a springboard.”

The men won two of the three games they played Sunday and three overall counting Saturday’s victory over Spain. Canada came into Vancouver with just one win in 11 games in the last two tournaments they played.

The seven points Canada picked for finishing 1srcth also moved the team past both Scotland and Wales in the overall points standings for the World Rugby Seven Series. Canada is tied for 11th with New Zealand with 31 points.

Canada needs to collect as many points as possible in the final three tournaments of the year to finish among the top 14 countries and avoid being relocated off the tour. The team’s best finish this year was a seventh in Malaga, Spain.

“It’s a dogfight down there right now,” said forward Jake Thiel, one of Canada’s best players over the weekend. “We don’t want to be stuck in that