With no disrespect to the other nations competing, the men’s rugby sevens final in August at Starlight Stadium in the North American and Caribbean qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics, will likely come down to host sa国际传媒 versus the U.S.
There was a preview of that match-up Sunday at the HSBC World Series Singapore Sevens as the U.S. beat sa国际传媒 22-17 on the consolation side. Perry Baker of the U.S., one of the most enthralling players in the sport over the past decade, showed he still has enough left in him at 36 and will be a handful in Langford this summer by coming off the bench to score two late tries as the Americans rallied from a 17-7 deficit to beat sa国际传媒 for the eighth consecutive time.
Josiah Morra scored three tries for sa国际传媒 against the U.S. Oak Bay Secondary-graduate Lachlan Kratz, Brennig Prevost, a University of Victoria Vikes player out of Glenlyon Norfolk School, and Will Percillier of Mill Bay, out of Brentwood College, all scored points in the tournament as sa国际传媒 went 2-4 in Singapore to place 14th.
“[We will] continue to fight for each other and put us in the best situation to compete for wins in a very competitive and challenging Series. The belief is growing,” interim sa国际传媒 head coach Sean White of Victoria said in a statement, heading into the Singapore Sevens.
New Zealand beat Argentina in the final while two-time defending Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic-champion Fiji took the bronze medal in Singapore.
There was no women’s tournament at the Singapore Sevens. The world No. 8 Canadian women, also based in Langford with the men, will next play in the World Series France Sevens in Toulouse May 12-14.
Both the Canadian men and women are gearing up for the North American and Caribbean qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics to be held Aug. 19-20 at Starlight Stadium. The men’s and women’s winners will advance directly to Paris 2024 while the runner-up teams will get a berth in the world at-large, last-chance Olympic qualifier next year at a venue to be decided.
The announcement that sa国际传媒 will have home-field advantage in the North American and Caribbean regional Olympic qualifier for Paris was made last week at Starlight Stadium.
“This was a big week for our program with the announcement that Langford will host for an Olympic position. We have one more stop in the Series in Toulouse before heading back home to aim to punch our ticket to the Olympic Games,” said Canadian head coach Jack Hanratty.
