Next weekend is the Glasgow 7s Rugby event that so many fans of Sevens Rugby wait for. It is always a great show, with Glasgow doing a fantastic job of hosting. It is the second-last event in the World Series of Rugby, so the top teams start to feel excitement being at the top.
Canada’s men’s team will of course be there, and today it was announced that one of our shining stars, Nathan Hirayama, will be returning from injury to help Captain John Moonlight’s team gain some much-needed points on the season.
Rugby Canada’s Hopes for Sevens Finale
Canada has some work to do at this tournament, which sadly will be Glasgow’s finale in the tour, as they have been dropped for hosting duties in the 2015/16 season.
For every match Canada plays, they have to come out swinging, use those fast boots, and strike first. If they do not get the first points on the scoreboard they will struggle. Sevens is fast, so the early points are the key to success.
There are only two tournaments left and Canada currently sits 11th, having just surpassed Wales because they earned a respectable 15 points in Tokyo. They have to make up some more of those crucial points, which is very achievable for them.
Canada’s points earned this season so far are 47. France is at 10th place with 54 points, and Samoa just above that with 56. It’s more of a stretch to 8th place as Argentina have 66, but it’s not impossible if there are some great wins in the final two tournaments of the season.
It seems unlikely that Canada will make it up the rankings to as high as 4th place with the London 7s Tournament completing the World Series for 2014/15. The top of the leaderboard is the place to be; those teams ranked first to fourth will automatically have inclusion into the Rio 2016 Olympics. This is a place Canada desperately strives for.
Canada has a lot of reason to want to complete the 2014/15 season on a high note. Canada backed their bid to host Rugby well, and has earned some great attention from the followers of rugby in Canada, as well as some of the younger players (and the future of rugby here in Canada). Rugby Canada continues to earn respect, and the players want to back this up with some great wins, which we know they’re capable of. We’ve seen it happen.
John Moonlight is doing nothing but working toward the goal of Rio 2016, personally and for the team, and to continue to raise the profile of Rugby in Canada.
The other players feel as strongly. Rugby Canada is greatly honoured to host a stop on the 2015/16 World Series Tour with the Vancouver tournament in April being pivotal, mere months before the Olympics. Canada would love for 2016 to be our year in Rugby Sevens. A few good wins and some great points earned in Glasgow and London this May will certainly help cement our place as world Rugby Sevens leaders.
Hosting at home next year is an experience that Harry Jones, consistent star for Canada, is ecstatic about: “Not only do I have a chance to play in my hometown in front of friends and family, it’s also a great opportunity for Vancouver, [the Province of] British Columbia, and Canada as a whole to develop rugby further as an already growing sport. With the inclusion of the Olympics in 2016, this stop has created quite the buzz and will be seen as a stepping stone for many towards the Olympics. I am certain that this sevens stop will be a success and only grow each year!”
There is also great buzz around the fact that the Canada leg of the tour will follow the massively popular Las Vegas stop. There will be groups of fans that plan for and head to both legs, especially as geographically Vancouver and Las Vegas are close enough to make such a road trip viable. It’s going to put a lot of pressure on Canada to host as amazingly as our friends and rivals at USA Rugby do, but this is something that I know Canada is going to excel at.
There is a lot of talk in Canadian rugby about our growth and new tournaments to shine the spotlight on us. Now the players have work to do to get us there in fine style. It would be great to host the event a year from now in a statistically sound place for Canada’s men. They are going to be motivated from start to finish in the 2015/16 World Series to make an excellent showing.
This is part of the reason there is a lot of extra pressure on the Canadian team right now. They are thinking ahead and know very well that how they train and play in the next three weeks affects the outcome of this season and sets the tone for the next. They know they have points to make up and that’s what they are setting out to accomplish.
Canada has drawn tough competition in their pool next weekend in Glasgow, facing the USA, Argentina, and Japan. They open Saturday May 9 against neighbours and fierce rivals USA at 530 am EST before they face Argentina and Japan. Then May 16/17 they finish the 2014/15 World Series in London, hopefully with another spectacular showing.
There is a lot to look forward to, that’s for sure. It’s great to think ahead in order to motivate. The boys need to focus on the positives, get some great runs in to cross the line, play a powerful game, and celebrate the fact that they are growing along with the popularity of the Rugby Sevens game worldwide and especially here at home.
Main Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images
