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The host U.S. and the Langford-based Canadian team did the expected before today’s anticipated showdown to decide which men’s rugby sevens side will advance to the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.

World No. 9 sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ opened the North American/Caribbean Olympic qualifier in Cary, North Carolina, on Saturday by beating Bahamas 45-0, Trinidad and Tobago 38-7 and Guyana 51-0.

Ciaran Hearn, from the Castaway Wanderers of Oak Bay, had three tries and Connor Braid of Victoria, a pro with London Scottish, two to lead the victory over Bahamas. Phil Mack, from Victoria, Nathan Hirayama and Sean Duke, of the UVic Vikes, Ospreys pro Tyler Ardron and Canadian captain John Moonlight, from James Bay, made it across the line against Trinidad and Tobago.

The kinetic Mack, an all-world selection in 2014 returning from a knee injury, scored a hat-trick of tries against Guyana. Fellow Oak Bay High-grad Braid, SMUS-grad Mike Fuailefau from CW and Duke were also among the try scorers.

The U.S., ranked No. 6 in the world, blanked Barbados 54-0 and Mexico 50-0 on Saturday and seems on an inevitable trajectory to meet sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ in the final today at 2:34 p.m. The winner will book its spot in Rio. The loser goes to the last-chance world qualifier next year when the final two Olympic berths will be on the line.

The U.S. has overtaken sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ in men’s soccer and is now competitive in men’s hockey. It appears to be happening in rugby, too. The result today will be telling. The U.S. and sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ have met five times this year in World Series tournaments, with the Americans holding a 4-1 advantage.

The Langford-based Canadian women’s sevens team has qualified for the Rio Olympics.

ROAD TO RIO: Argentina defeated surprise-team sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½, with James Kirkpatrick of Victoria, 3-0 Saturday in Buenos Aires to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in men’s field hockey. Kirkpatrick gets another shot today when upstart sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ meets Germany or Netherlands, with the winner grabbing the second berth available to Rio from this qualifier . . . The Canadian women’s field-hockey team — with Maddie Secco of Victoria and former UVic Vikes stars Danielle Hennig, Thea Culley, Kaitlyn Williams — lost 3-0 to host Spain at Valencia to drop to 0-3 in its Rio Olympics qualifier . . . Two-time Olympic medallist Ryan Cochrane of Victoria has hit for the swim cycle this week with gold, silver and bronze at the Mare Nostrum Series in Europe.