Canada's John Moonlight gestures as a penalty is awarded to Italy during the Rugby World Cup Pool D match between Italy and Canada at Elland Road, Leeds, England, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. It has not been the best of starts for the Canadian men's rugby sevens team.Liam Middleton's side opened last month in Dubai against defending champion Fiji and was thumped 63-14. The Canadians ultimately finished 13 out of 16 teams.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Alastair Grant

It has not been the best of starts for the Canadian men's rugby sevens team.

Liam Middleton's side opened last month in Dubai against defending champion Fiji and was thumped 63-14. The Canadians ultimately finished 13 out of 16 teams.

"They were just sublime, they were absolutely phenomenal," Middleton said admiringly of the Pacific Islanders. "Everything came off for them. It just dented the confidence a little bit."

Next time out in Cape Town, Canada scored its second-ever win over New Zealand but failed to reach the Cup quarter-finals on a complex tiebreaker with France. It took the fourth tiebreaker to decide the deadlock between the two — the fifth tiebreaker being a flip of the coin.

As a result, Canada is 13th in the overall standings with eight points going into this weekend's play in Wellington, New Zealand.

Fiji and South Africa are tied at 35 points, ahead of the U.S. and Argentina, who are both on 28. England is fifth at 25.

"We know we've to pick up some key point in these next two legs," said Middleton, who wants to see his team competing in the final eight of the elite Cup competition rather than the consolation rounds.

Middleton saw improvement as the Dubai event wore on. And in South Africa, only one team scored more tries than Canada despite its 11th-place finish.

"It was tight margins but I took some real confidence from what we did there," Middleton said of Cape Town.

"Our position at the end of the tournament wasn't to our liking but a lot of the process stuff was actually pretty pleasing," he added.

It's a big year for the Canadian men, who finished ninth on last year's circuit. Vancouver will host an event for the first time — on March 12-13 — and the team has circled on its calendar a June 18-19 Olympic qualifying repechage tournament in Monaco.

Canada is up against Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Russia, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Samoa, Zimbabwe, Morocco and Tunisia in the winner-take-all event.

Fiji, South Africa, New Zealand, Britain, Argentina, the U.S., France, Japan, Australia, Kenya and hosts Brazil have already booked their Olympic ticket.

Phil Berna, 19, and Luke McCloskey, 23, are slated to make their debut this weekend for Middleton's team.

Canada is in Pool D with Australia, Kenya and Portugal. Canada is 3-36-1 all-time against Australia, 20-10-1 against Kenya and 16-11-0 against Portugal.

Kenya is coming off a top-four finish in Cape Town.

"They'll be a better side than they were any time last year," said Middleton.

The Canadians defeated Portugal 31-14 in Dubai but have yet to face Australia and Kenya this season.

After New Zealand, Canada heads to Australia for the Sydney Sevens the following week.

Canada Roster

Phil Berna, UBC Thunderbirds, Vancouver; Admir Cejvanovic, Burnaby Lake RFC,. Burnaby, B.C.; Sean Duke, unattached, Vancouver; Lucas Hammond, Toronto Nomads, Toronto; Nathan Hirayama, UVIC Vikes, Vancouver; Harry Jones, Capilano RFC, West Vancouver; Pat Kay, unattached, Duncan, B.C.; Phil Mack, James Bay AA, Victoria; Luke McCloskey, Castaway Wanderers, Victoria; John Moonlight (capt.), James Bay AA, Pickering, Ont.; Matt Mullins, Queens University, Belleville, Ont.; Sean White, James Bay AA, Victoria; Adam Zaruba, Capilano RFC, Vancouver,.

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