The Langford-based Canadian women鈥檚 rugby sevens squad can be excused if it is marching to a bit of a samba beat, after becoming the first Canadian qualifier in a team sport for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
sa国际传媒 defeated Spain 29-0, the Netherlands 34-10 and France 26-5 on Friday at the Amsterdam Sevens, and those results were enough to assure passage to the big show in Rio next year.
Amsterdam is the final World Series tournament of the season, with the top four teams in the six-event series qualifying for the 2016 Summer Games. sa国际传媒 is now guaranteed to place in the top four after Friday鈥檚 results.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the fruition of a big plan we put together almost five years ago to get to this point, as well as the goal we set at the beginning of the year as a program, to get one of those [four] qualifying spots,鈥� said Canadian head coach John Tait of Victoria, in a statement.
鈥淥ur goal was to have it wrapped up as soon as we could to alleviate pressure and I think we came pretty close to that.鈥�
It鈥檚 as much about the ripple effects after Rio as it is about 2016 itself.
鈥淸The Olympics] can be a big catalyst, a launching point for rugby,鈥� said Tait. 鈥淗opefully, there鈥檚 young kids watching. There鈥檚 a pathway there to attract those blue-chip athletes at an earlier age. It鈥檚 not just about 2016. We can start and build a legacy for others to follow.鈥�
Gareth Rees of Victoria, Rugby sa国际传媒鈥檚 national teams program manager, concurs.
鈥淎 young Canadian family with kids who maybe didn鈥檛 think about rugby before, may think about it now,鈥� said Rees, an all-time Canadian great and first rugby player inducted into sa国际传媒鈥檚 Sports Hall of Fame.
鈥淲e put forward a case to the COC and Own the Podium. Job One, get to the Olympics, and then it鈥檚 wide open. We go into Rio with a real chance for a medal.鈥�
A talking point is about how the Canadian players rallied after a disappointing showing last month in the sa国际传媒 Sevens before capacity crowds at Westhills Stadium in Langford in the first World Series event hosted in this country.
鈥淲e obviously didn鈥檛 perform as well as we would have liked at home in Langford. But the players responded well in the two World Series tournaments after Langford [the London Sevens last week and Amsterdam Sevens this weekend],鈥� said Rees.
Lost amid the hubbub Friday of Olympic qualification was the fact the Amsterdam Sevens continues today with the quarter-final, semifinals and final. But the Canadians, captained by Jennifer Kish, go into the final day of the 2015 World Series with something precious that can鈥檛 be taken away 鈥� a guaranteed spot in the Olympics next year in Rio.
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