Phil Mack is back. And not a moment too soon. The Victoria veteran鈥檚 presence was immediately felt as sa国际传媒 went 1-1-1 Saturday in the opening day of the London Sevens after going 0-5 in the Paris Sevens last week.
Mack, the spiritual and physical core of the Canadian team, had been off since injuring his leg in the sa国际传媒 Sevens in March.
The Langford-based Canadian team is preparing for the last-chance Olympic qualifier for Rio.
The qualifier, which takes place June 18-19 in Monaco, will decide the 12th and final berth into the Rio Games, which is expected to come down to sa国际传媒, Russia or Samoa.
The 24-19 win over Samoa on Saturday in London must have been heartening for sa国际传媒.
The victory was sandwiched between a 21-7 loss to world power and Rio-bound South Africa and a 12-12 tie against the U.S., which last year beat sa国际传媒 for the North American and Caribbean regional berth into the Rio Olympics.
sa国际传媒, however, was relegated to the consolation side of the draw on tiebreakers in London and will meet Brazil in the Bowl quarter-finals today.
Brazil is a rugby minnow but gets an automatic berth into the Rio Olympics as host. 鈥淲e are looking to build momentum to Monaco, where we want to peak,鈥� Canadian head coach Liam Middleton said before the team left Victoria.
Even though sa国际传媒 was relegated to the Bowl, there鈥檚 a sense the team regained at least some momentum Saturday in London.
It also again showed how dramatically fates can change in sevens from week to week.
A troubling injury, however, persists for Middleton鈥檚 national squad. One of sa国际传媒鈥檚 standout players, University of Victoria Vikes product Nathan Hirayama, suffered a hand injury last week in Paris and did not play Saturday in London.
Meanwhile, the Langford-based Canadian women's sevens team, which has qualified for the Rio Games and is ranked No. 4 in the world, continues its Olympic preparations this week at the London Sevens with a Maple Leafs development side entered.
