Canada falls from Cup contention with two losses at Paris Sevens

PARIS – Canada dropped from Cup contention at the Paris World Rugby Sevens Series with two losses on Saturday, the first day of competition.

The Canadians, who will face Russia in a Challenge Trophy quarter-final, entered Paris as defending champions for the first time after winning the Cup title in Singapore last month.

Canada opened Saturday with a 21-17 win over Japan but lost 26-19 to Scotland and 31-7 to South Africa.

South Africa raced out to a commanding 17-0 lead at half time on two tries from Werner Kok and one from Chris Dry. Both scored again in the second half to go up 31-0 before a Justin Douglas try gave Canada its only points.

Canada’s loss to Scotland came on a last minute-try from James Fleming.

Harry Jones scored two tries for Canada in its opening win against Japan.