The Langford-based Canadian women’s rugby sevens team moved itself to the edge of the podium for Paris by placing fourth in the World Series Grand Final tournament which concluded Sunday in Spain. The Canadians went in ranked No. 5 in the world. One more move up the ladder next month would mean the podium in Paris at the Olympic Games, which would be the first for sa国际传媒 since winning bronze in the rugby’s Olympic debut at Rio 2016.
“This is a really positive weekend. With beating [defending 2020 Tokyo Olympic-champion] New Zealand we’ve now managed and registered wins against every team on the World Series this year,” said sa国际传媒 head coach Jack Hanratty, in a statement.
“We get to go home now really confident as we build for Paris. The hardest part now is to make our squad, which has been so robust this year, a little built smaller going into the crucial selection time over the next few weeks.”
The Canadian team earned its Paris berth by winning the North American and Caribbean Olympic qualifying tournament last August at Starlight Stadium.
The Canadian men, also based in Langford, face a daunting hurdle before Paris and must win the talent-laden and deep last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament June 21-23 in Monaco in order to advance to the 2024 Summer Games. sa国际传媒 was redirected through the repechage route by placing second to the U.S. in the direct North American and Caribbean Olympic qualifying tournament last summer at Starlight Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Canadian men lost 22-14 to Spain in Madrid in the last-gasp game Sunday of the World Series promotion-relegation tournament to decide which of those teams will remain in the 12-team top-tier HSBC World Series for the 2024-25 season and which team will be relegated to the second-tier Challenger Series. sa国际传媒 drew the short straw.
“We’re gutted that we didn’t get the job done. Personally, I’m gutted for the players that sacrificed so much of their time and effort and deserve so much more than what they got today,” said sa国际传媒 head coach Sean White of Victoria, in a statement.
“I’m gutted for the next wave of young Canadian rugby players who don’t get to see their team play on the World Series.”
That is to rebound from next season in the Challenger Series. The immediacy now in the last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament.
“We’ll flip our mindsets to Monaco. We’ll do all we can to prepare for that tournament and try to make amends for what we did here in Madrid,” said White, a former sevens star and XVs World Cup player for sa国际传媒 out of Oak Bay Secondary and James Bay Athletic Association.
“It hurts a lot. We’ve got to move on as we still have another job to do.”
