VANCOUVER — Canada opened the inaugural HSBC Canada Sevens rugby tournament on a disappointing note Saturday, losing 26-19 to Wales on a last-second try.
The Canadian men can still advance to the elite Cup quarter-finals but will likely have to upset Australia to do so.
Canada led 14-0 on two early Pat Kay converted tries but the Welsh answered with two Jordan Williams tries late in the half to cut the lead to 14-12.
A long-distance Harry Jones run made it 19-12 early in the second half before the Welsh, utilizing kicks to take advantage of their speed, tied it with a Luke Treharne try before Chris Knight crossed with no time remaining.
"It was a hell of a battle," said Welsh coach Gareth Williams.
Canada's tries were pretty but the home team had eight giveaways and five errors.
"Too many mistakes, including myself," said Canadian captain John Moonlight.
The Canadians, ranked 12th in the overall standings, lost 17-10 to No. 13 Wales last weekend in Las Vegas.
The 28,000-lower bowl at B.C. Place Stadium was sold out, with another 5,000 seats available in the upper bowl.
"The crowd's actually been unreal," said Moonlight.
Canada faced No. 4 Australia and No. 15 Russia later Saturday in Pool B play. The goal is to finish in the top two of the group to advance to the Cup quarter-finals on Day 2.
Australia hammered Russia 43-5 in the other early Pool B match.
"We made it hard for ourselves," said Canadian coach Liam Middleton. "You can't question the guys in terms of what they throw out there on the field. Sevens is that game that can flip on a coin. The (Welsh) kicks did that to us.
"Ultimately the focus is we've got to come out, be inspirational and beat Australia."
Saturday marked the first World Series event held indoors, with the roof closed at B.C. Place due to the drizzle outdoors.
The rain did not stop fans lining up more than an hour before kickoff. When the action started, there were the sounds of bagpipes from the stands as Scotland played South Africa. The Blitzboks, featuring former World Rugby player of the year Bryan Habana, won 41-0.
Australian referee Anthony Moyes, meanwhile, demonstrated the game's intolerance to bad behaviour by showing the yellow card twice — sending two Scots to the sinbin for throwing the ball away after a penalty call.
The spectators, some of who came in costume, cheered on the underdog Brazilians, the one invited team at the tournament, and applauded Daniel Sancery as he bulled over one Argentine player and then outraced the rest for the South Americans' lone try in a 33-5 loss.
There were plenty of individual highlight-reel efforts on a day that saw 24 games played.
Kenya's Oscar Ouma left his mark — and a trail of bodies in his wake.
Samoa's Belgium Tuatagoloa, a former All Blacks sevens player, got the crowd up on its feet by slashing through the Fijian defence before kicking the ball and beating the last defender to it at the goal-line.
The Series-leading Fijians had more moments, thumping their fellow Pacific Islanders 38-5.
The Samoans are one of Canada's main rivals at a June Olympic qualifying repechage tournament in Monaco, where the last spot in the field for Rio will be filled.
New Zealand and England showed their teeth in an ill-tempered ruck that led to England's Richard de Carpentier being yellow-carded. New Zealand won 7-0.
A mini remote-controlled van, in the colours of sponsor DHL, delivered the ball for each kickoff.
