Canadian women stay unbeaten, move into semifinals of Perth rugby 7s

Canada ran in five tries Saturday to defeat Brazil 27-5 in women's play and move into the semifinals of the HSBC SVNS Perth rugby sevens tournament in Perth, Australia.

Seventh-seeded Canada will face No. 2 Australia on Sunday in a battle of unbeaten teams. Australia, which won the opening event of the season in Dubai, advanced with a 35-0 win over No. 6 Japan.

Top-seeded New Zealand, which lifted the trophy last time out in Cape Town, meets No. 3 France in the other semifinal.

The Australians outscored their opposition 149-12 in their first four games in Perth while Canada holds a 100-20 edge in scoring over its first four outings.

The two teams met in the semifinal of the Paris Olympics with Canada winning 21-12.

The men's semifinals pit Spain against Argentina and South Africa against Australia.

Mahalia Robinson, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Olivia Apps, Florence Symonds and Carmen Izyk scored tries for Canada, which led No. 10 Brazil 15-5 at the half. Hogan-Rochester added a conversion.

It was an 11th straight Cup quarterfinal loss for Brazil, which has never beaten Canada on the HSBC SVNS circuit.

Canada dominated the early going with Robinson crashing over from close range to cap the attack before Hogan-Rochester scored a second.

Thalia Da Silva Costa pulled a try back for Brazil with a fine solo effort late in the first half, outracing Hogan-Rochester for her 104th career sevens try. Apps padded the Canadian lead, scoring on an overlap.

Symonds scored early in the second half after Canada turned the ball over at the breakdown. Izyk added a late try.

After defeating Britain 38-5 and Fiji 14-12, the Canadians downed the previously unbeaten U.S. 21-7 to win Pool B in their first outing Saturday.

All the scoring in the U.S. game came in the second half with Canada captain Piper Logan scoring two tries and Carissa Norsten adding a third. Apps kicked three conversions.

Canada arrived at the tournament in seventh place in the overall standings after finishing eighth in the season-opening tournament in Dubai and fifth in Cape Town. The Canadian women went 1-4-0 in Dubai and 3-1-0 in Cape Town.

The U.S. stood fourth overall while Britain was fifth and Fiji 11th. The Australia women sit second behind New Zealand.

Canada lost Savannah Bauder to an injury in training this week. Rugby Canada declined to elaborate on the injury when asked for more details.

With this HSBC SVNS season the first in the new Olympic quadrennial, Canada coach Jocelyn Barrieau has been blooding new talent.

Olivia Sarabura, Larah Wright and Gabrielle Senft made their sevens debut in Perth. Senft also plays in the back row for the Canadian 15s team.

Barrieau included seven new faces in her squad for the first two stops on tour before Perth.

"It's been a great start to a year," said Apps, the former captain who rejoined the sevens side in Perth after playing 15s for Canada. "Honestly this group is fantastic and the young energy and skill of this group is very exceptional. They inspire me every day."

After Perth, the teams head to Vancouver for the fourth stop of the season Feb. 21-23 at B.C. Place Stadium. The circuit then moves to Hong Kong and Singapore before wrapping up May 3-4 in Carson, Calif.

The Singapore event will crown the SVNS season winners before the top eight men's and women's teams take part in the winner-takes-all world championship at California's Dignity Health Sports Park.