Canada Men to Play Trinidad & Tobago and Japan at Invitational Tournament at Vancouver 7s
It’s not what was wanted from last year’s perspective. Ideally the men’s team would still be on the World Rugby 7s series and, with the women, drawing in the crowd. Will the crowds still come without the men in the main tournament or do people just want to party and rugby is the extra bonus. We’ll find out in February.
The men will be in the Challenger Series in March in South Africa and this “invitational” tournament of three teams will be a warm up. Trinidad & Tobago, no disrespect, but they won’t get Canada ready for the level of competition they’ll face from Brazil, Chile, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, Portugal, Samoa, Tonga and others. Japan are in the Challenger Series so they’re a good choice, Chile or Brazil would have been good choices as well.
I suppose it could be spun as a “good luck” send off to the men’s team on their way to South Africa. Japan came 9th in last year’s Challenger Series, so if Canada can’t beat them, it’s time to worry. Last year the top four teams were Uruguay, Kenya, Chile and Germany. Uruguay and Kenya were promoted so Chile and Germany, along with Samoa will represent the level Canada will have to match in the 2025 Challenger Series.
Canadian men to play in invitational rugby event alongside HSBC SVNS stop in Vancouver
Key warm-up for Canada’s men’s team ahead of Challengers Series in March
The Canadian men’s team will be part of the Vancouver Sevens, competing in an invitational event in conjunction with the HSBC SVNS stop in February.
The Canadian men, relegated from the top tier of rugby sevens competition in June, will meet Japan and Trinidad and Tobago at B.C. Place Stadium.
The Canadian women will be part of HSBC SVNS play Feb. 21-23 in Vancouver. They currently stand seventh after the first three events of the HSBC SVNS circuit.
Prior to relegation, the Canadian men had been a core team on the top sevens circuit since 2012-13 and lifted the trophy in Singapore in 2017. They finished eighth at the Tokyo Olympics.
In November, they thumped host Trinidad and Tobago 38-0 to win the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens and qualify for World Rugby’s second-tier Challenger Series. The tournament-favourite Canadian men outscored their opposition 169-0 over five matches in a first step back up the rugby sevens ladder.
The top four teams from the three-event Challenger Series will face off against the bottom four from the HSBC SVNS at the SVNS World Championships May 3-4 in Carson, Calif., in a promotion/relegation playoff.
The Canadian men will use Vancouver as a prep event for the first stop of the Challenger Series March 1-2 in Cape Town
“Granted this is not the format we aimed to be in at Vancouver Sevens, (but) any chance our players have to play in front of a home crowd, in front of family and friends, is such an incredible opportunity and one we could not pass up.” Canada coach Sean White said in a statement.
“It will show our players who haven’t experienced Vancouver a glimpse of what we are working towards and it will remind our players who have experienced Vancouver Sevens just how much these moments mean on home soil.”
The Canadian men last met Japan in April 2023, winning 16-12 at the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
The other Challenger events are March 7-8, also in Cape Town, and April 11-12 in Krakow, Poland.