Canada's Thomas Isherwood, left, celebrates his try with teammate Canada's Matthew Percillier during HSBC Canada Sevens rugby action against Mexico in Edmonton, Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

By The Canadian Press

Canadian rugby sevens side excels on the first day of the RAN Sevens in Trinidad

Nov 21, 2025 | 5:25 PM

ARIMA — Canada cruised to comfortable wins over Barbados and Bermuda to open play Friday at the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens competition.

The Canadian men blanked Barbados 45-0 then downed Bermuda 34-0. They take on Mexico on Saturday looking to win their pool so they can take on the bottom team in the other group in the quarterfinals.

Henry Corkum scored three tries on debut for Canada against Barbados and added three more against Bermuda.

“Great way to start your career for Canada,” said interim head coach Christiaan Esterhuizen.

The regional competition marks the start of the Canadian men’s climb back to the elite HSBC SVNS circuit.

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Relegated from the top tier in June 2024, the Canadians had hoped to reclaim their place via a promotion-relegation playoff series in May after climbing out of the second-tier Challenger Series. But World Rugby rejigged the entire sevens series structure ahead of the tournament in Carson, Calif., taking promotion off the table.

Other men’s sides competing in the top tier of the 20-team RAN Sevens at Larry Gomes Stadium are the Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica and host Trinidad and Tobago.

The tournament winner moves on to the next stage of the promotion road, an HSBC SVNS 3 event set for January. A top-two finish there would move the Canadian men on to the HSBC SVNS 2 competition scheduled to run February to March. A top-four finish there earns a berth in the three-event HSBC SVNS World Championship in April, May and June — and a chance to get back in the top tier.

With the U.S. not in the field, Canada thumped Trinidad and Tobago 38-0 to win last year’s RAN Sevens, with the Canadians outscoring their opposition 169-0 in five matches (not counting a group game against Barbados that was designated a scoreless draw after a downpour forced the match to be called off with Canada leading 10-0 in the first half).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2025.

The Canadian Press