Canadian men beaten by Chile in Cape Town in final of Challenger Series event

Canadian Kyle Tremblay, right, attempts a tackle in Canada's 24-19 win over Germany in Cup semifinal action at the 2025 HSBC Sevens Challenger Series tournament at Athlone Sports Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday, March 2, 2025. World Rugby-Zach Franzen

CAPE TOWN — Chile, recovering from an early 7-0 deficit, reeled off five straight tries to defeat Canada 33-7 Sunday in the men’s final of the opening round of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger Series.

The Challenger Series is World Rugby’s second-tier sevens competition.

Luca Strabucchi scored two tries and Manuel Bustamante, Lucca Avelli and Julian Troncoso added singles for the South Americans, who led 14-7 at the half. Diego Warnken booted four conversions.

Kyle Tremblay scored the lone try for Canada, which had won its three previous games. Kalin Sager kicked a conversion.

Canada won a squeaker in the semifinal earlier Sunday, defeating Germany 24-19 in extra time. A diving Tremblay scored the deciding try, getting a hand to the ball in the German endzone after a sliding defender failed to get a hand to the ball.

Morgan Di Nardo, Jamie Armstrong and Thomas Isherwood also scored tries for Canada, which trailed 14-12 at the half. Isherwood added two conversions.

Chile beat Samoa 31-14 in the other semifinal at Athlone Sports Stadium. Germany then downed Samoa 19-14 to finish third.

Chile, which finished third overall in last year’s Challenger series standings, fell short of winning promotion to the elite HSBC SVNS in June when it lost 12-10 Uruguay thanks to a last-minute try by Juan Tafernaberry. Canada, which finished last on the 12-team HSBC SVSNS circuit, was relegated from the top tier after a 22-14 loss to Spain.

The Kenya and Uruguay men and China women won promotion from the Challenger Series last year.

Canada posted two wins Saturday to advance to the Cup semifinals, defeating Madagascar 38-0 and Hong Kong 21-12.

The Canadian men are looking to finish in the top four in the three-event Challenger Series. That will earn them a spot in a promotion/relegation tournament May 3-4 in Carson, Calif., where the top four teams from the Challenger Series and the bottom four from the HSBC SVNS will meet to decide four spots in next season’s HSBC SVNS field.

Cape Town is hosting the opening two rounds of the Challenger Series, with the second event March 7-8. The top eight teams will then compete in the Challenger Series finale in Krakow, Poland, in April.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2025.