The Langford-based Canadian men’s rugby sevens squad has gone from quarter-finalist in the delayed Tokyo Olympics less than two years ago to a last-gasp bid this weekend to stay running with the big dogs on the elite teams.
The youthful Canadian team, rebuilding following the mass retirement of key veterans following the Tokyo Olympics, will play in the relegation tournament at hallowed Twickenham Stadium in London to remain in the HSBC World Series for next season.
The top 11 teams are guaranteed to stay on the World Series, which is shrinking from 16 teams to 12 teams for 2023-24. The 12th 13th and 14th teams this season, along with the Challenger Series champion Tonga, are playing in the four-team relegation tournament for the 12th and final spot in next year’s HSBC World Series. Number 14 sa国际传媒 meets No. 13 Kenya and No. 12 Uruguay in the early hours Pacific Time on Saturday morning at Twickenham. sa国际传媒 concludes group play in the wee hours Sunday against Tonga with the top-two teams advancing to the playoff final later in the morning. The winner will be on the winnowed-down HSBC World Series for 2023-24 with the three other teams relegated to lower tournaments next season with select invites only to HSBC World Series tournaments.
sa国际传媒 comes into London after an encouraging and season-best fourth place in the France Sevens last week in Toulouse.
“It’s a credit to the training group back home in Langford and the pressure they put on each other each day on the field and in the gym,” Canadian head coach and former playing star Sean White of Victoria said in a statement. “Although we found success in Toulouse, it’s London that ultimately holds the challenge we’ve been preparing for.
“We accept the challenge head on and can’t wait to get stuck into it.”
With apologies to the Clash, it’s London calling for sa国际传媒. The Canuck roster there will include the Island trio of Anton Ngongo out of Claremont Secondary and Lachlan Kratz and Jack Carson out of Oak Bay. Brennig Prevost of Victoria will be in a support role. Phil Berna is the captain.
“We feel pretty good. We have good momentum coming out of Toulouse,” Berna told World Rugby.
“But it’s do-or-die. You never know what’s going to happen on the day. Hopefully we can just keep to the same processes that we were doing in France and bring them here [to London]. Keeping level heads is going to be massive for us.”
Every tackle takes on greater significance from this weekend into the summer. The Canadian men and women will also be playing in the North American and Caribbean qualifying tournament for the 2024 Olympic Games on Aug. 19-20 at Starlight Stadium with the men’s and women’s champions advancing to Paris.
The first qualifier for the Olympics was this season’s HSBC World Series with the top-four men’s and women’s teams in the standings qualifying for the 2024 Summer Games. First-place New Zealand and second-place Argentina have qualified for Paris in men’s. Third-place France is already in as host. Two-time defending Rio and Tokyo Olympic-champion Fiji currently holds fourth place heading into the World Series season-closing London Sevens this weekend with Australia close behind in fifth place. Sixth- and seventh-place South Africa and Samoa still have mathematical probabilities.
The women’s HSBC World Series season has concluded with top three New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. having qualified for the Paris Olympics. France was fourth, but already pre-qualified as host, so fifth-place Ireland has also advanced to Paris.
The Canadian women placed ninth and for the first time have failed to qualify through the direct World Series route to the Games.
“This will start at home [Langford] in our training environment first, then we look forward to our Olympic qualifier,” said Canadian women’s head coach Jack Hanratty, in a statement.
“But the goal is not just to be Olympians, it’s to be Olympic medallists, and we have a lot of work to do right now to get there.”
