Canada's sevens rugby side left Sao Paulo with their pride intact but, once again, without the wins their season desperately needs — a reality acknowledged with unusual honesty by World Rugby's commentary team during their clash with Belgium at HSBC SVNS 2.
The match, a tense back-and-forth between two sides clinging to a tournament pathway that has been slipping away from them all season, produced one of the most candid on-air assessments of Canada's year so far.
"It's not been their sevens tournament. They've not had it all their own way. It's been a battle. They finished with a bit of pride," the commentator observed.
That description reflects a bigger story. Canada, relegated to the SVNS 2 tier after a difficult core-series campaign, arrived in Brazil with a chance to build momentum for the World Championship qualifiers. Instead, they have again found themselves losing narrowly, with the analysis tracking the same pattern through the season.
"Canada has been competitive and getting close to teams but just haven't been able to finish off performances with wins," the commentator noted.
A significant piece of that puzzle, the team's coaches have long believed, is the absence and delayed return of Thomas Ishaw. Canada's influential forward missed the Nairobi event with a shoulder injury suffered in club rugby, and the knock-on effects have rippled through every subsequent tournament.
"They really did miss him there," the commentator said, referencing his absence in Nairobi and the sluggish restart Canada endured in his wake.
His return to the team has given Canada a more familiar shape, but the slow start to the season has piled up costs: lost matches, lost points, lost ranking and, most expensively, the need to go back through regional qualifying to try to rebuild their place at the top level.
There was still rugby to admire, however. The Belgian side have built their year around former Scotland international Ryan Godsmark, and on the evidence of Sao Paulo he is finally injury-free and in career form.
"He's really had the defence eating out of his hand. He's had him on a string," the commentator said of Godsmark, whose carrying and distribution has made him the most influential player in SVNS 2 this weekend.
The tournament also produced a player-of-the-series contender in Martin Moren, whose weight of impact across the weekend drew one of the stronger verdicts the commentators have offered in 2026.
"Just feels like this tournament he's understood what he's capable of in terms of really dictating games, changing games, and he's been a big part of their success this weekend," the commentator said.
Belgium's own campaign has not been a straight line either. A narrow defeat by Uruguay earlier in the day cost them the shot at a top finish they believed was on offer, and the commentary team acknowledged the sting of that margin.
"I mean, it's a painful thought. I'm sure it's ringing around their minds as well," the commentator said of Belgium's missed opportunity.
For Canada, the closing message was a familiar one — pride in the effort, frustration with the result and a clear-eyed acceptance that the structure of their sevens programme, like their gameplan, needs another hard look. Finishing with a bit of pride is rarely enough in the modern sevens circuit. Their next challenge is turning competitiveness into consistent wins.
