August 27, 2021 – Canada’s Wheelchair Rugby Team defeats New Zealand 51-36 in the final game of group stage; Canada will play France in placement seeding for the 5/6 positions. New Zealand (ranked 8th internationally) and Canada (ranked 5^th), both entered the game looking for their first win. Zak Madell led Canada with 12 tries through only 12:37 minutes of gameplay; Barney Koneferenisi led New Zealand with 18.

(Megumi Masuda/World Wheelchair Rugby)

“New Zealand showed up ready for the game, I was very impressed by their high, low [play], probably gave us a little more resistance than expected at the beginning, but all in all, we stuck to plan, and we outperformed them”, said coach Patrick Côté.

With the conclusion of group stage, Canada finished 3^rd in group B with a 1-2 record. Canada is set to play 6th-ranked France tomorrow, August 28.

“France had a very solid tournament in the other pool, they gave Japan, Australia, and Denmark great games”, continued Patrick. “It is always a tough battle against France, we’re really looking forward to it…It could not have been closer on the other side.”

Match Statistics

Canada wraps up its Paralympic journey against France. The 5/6 Classification Match begins August 28 4:00am PT; 5:00am MT; 6:00am CT; 7:00am ET; 8:00am AT.

Livestream and on-demand broadcasts will offer an additional 1000+ hours of competition coverage, and can be found on Paralympic.ca/Tokyo-2020, cbc.ca/tokyo2020 and Radio-Canada.ca/jeux-paralympiques, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, the free CBC Gem streaming service, and the Radio-Canada Sports app.

The full broadcast schedule can be found here.

The Paralympic Games take place from August 24 to September 5.

ABOUT WHEELCHAIR RUGBY CANADA

Wheelchair Rugby Canada is the national governing body for the Canadian Heritage Sport of wheelchair rugby. Wheelchair Rugby Canada strives to be a world-leader in wheelchair rugby, a respected advocate for wheelchair athletes and a visionary organization committed to excellence in programs from recruitment to retirement.

MEDIA CONTACT

Nathan Lederer
Communications and Marketing Coordinator
Wheelchair Rugby Canada
nathan@wheelchairrugby.ca or 905-531-7428