Canadian rugby sevens women move into Cup semifinals after two pool wins in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Fancy Bermudez scored two tries Saturday to help Canada defeat the U.S. 31-21 and move into the Cup semifinals at the HSBC SVNS Singapore.

The Canadian women, who came into the tournament in fourth place in the HSBC SVNS season standings, opened play with a 14-5 win over Britain.

Breanne Nicholas, Sabrina Poulin and Carissa Norsten also scored tries against the fifth-ranked Americans while Nicholas booted three conversions. Carissa Norsten and Olivia Apps scored first-half tries and Nicholas added both conversions in Canada’s win over No. 8 Britain.

Canada will face No. 2 Australia in one semifinal Sunday while No. 1 New Zealand faces No. 3 France in the other.

Singapore, the sixth and penultimate event of the season on the top-tier rugby sevens tour, decides the 2025 HSBC SVNS League winners (think regular season), with the top eight men’s and women’s teams moving on to the winner-take-all HSBC SVNS World Championship in Cason, Calif., on May 3-4.

The New Zealand women and Argentina men were confirmed as 2025 League winners on Day 1 at Singapore National Stadium.

The Black Ferns secured the top-four finish they required, thanks to dominant victories over China (38-0) and Brazil (48-0) to top Pool A. Argentina, meanwhile, bounced back from a 26-24 loss to South Africa by beating Britain 19-12 to move into the semifinals and clinch the SVNS men’s league title.

Britain and Fiji secured their places in the World Championship in California at the expense of Brazil.

The men’s teams moving on are Argentina, Fiji, Spain, South Africa, France, New Zealand, Australia and Britain. The confirmed women’s teams are Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Britain, France, Fiji, the U.S. and Japan.

The Canadians are coming off a season-best third-place finish in Hong Kong. Canada finished eighth in Dubai, fifth in Cape Town, fourth in Perth and seventh in Vancouver.

The California finale will also feature a promotion/relegation playoff involving the top four men’s and women’s teams from the second-tier HSBC Sevens Challenger and the bottom four teams on the HSBC SVNS circuit.

The Canadian men, relegated last June, are set to take part in the final Challenger Series event April 11-12 in Krakow, Poland. They currently top the Challenger Series.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2025