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When the host side soars, so does any tournament.
The Langford-based Canadian men鈥檚 rugby team delivered both on and off the pitch by going 2-1 on opening day and qualifying for today鈥檚 quarter-finals of the sa国际传媒 Sevens while attracting 38,085 fans Saturday to sa国际传媒 Place. It was the largest crowd in Canadian rugby history.
An inspired sa国际传媒 beat Scotland 28-10 and Russia 26-5 before falling narrowly 15-14 to New Zealand to book a spot in the quarter-finals this morning against Rio Olympics bronze-medallist South Africa.
Five University of Victoria Vikes players or alumni are on the roster for the host team 鈥� Luke Bradley of Port Alberni, Pat Kay of Duncan, Lucas Hammond, Nathan Hirayama and Isaac Kay. Also on the sa国际传媒 roster from the Island are St. Michaels University School grads and Castaway Wanderers Mike Fuailefau and Luke McCloskey.
sa国际传媒 is ranked No. 12 in the world and has had some decent results of late by making the semifinals of the Wellington Sevens and quarter-finals of the USA Sevens in Las Vegas. And now this at home.
It has been much needed after Rugby sa国际传媒 has taken some hits recently on the men鈥檚 side by going 1-4 in the XVs Americas Championship.
And while the Canadian women鈥檚 sevens team came out of Langford to win bronze at the Rio Olympics, the men failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Games and lost its $850,000 annual funding from the federal Own the Podium program.
The impressive fan turnout this weekend at sa国际传媒 Place should help refill those depleted coffers.
鈥淚n three of the last four tournaments, we鈥檝e made it to the quarter-finals, so we鈥檝e proven we鈥檙e a top-eight team,鈥� Canadian coach Damian McGrath said in a statement.
鈥淲e鈥檙e disappointed to just get to the quarter-finals now, so we need to take that next step.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 put anything past us [today]. To come out and compete like we did against New Zealand, with nine fit players, tells a story about how committed the players are and how, as a team, they want to do well.鈥�
Meanwhile, the equivalent women鈥檚 sa国际传媒 Sevens is at Westhills Stadium in Langford on May 27-28.
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