Canadian women's rugby 7s draws difficult Olympic pool
Men's groups also announced Tuesday
By Benjamin Blum, CBC Sports
Canada's women's rugby sevens team will face a familiar foe in Olympic pool play, albeit under a different name.
The reigning Pan Am Games champion was grouped with Great Britain, Brazil and Japan on Tuesday to form Pool C in rugby's return to the Olympics. Team Great Britain will comprise rugby players from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and longtime Canadian rugby rival England.
"We've played each other a lot and we know that each team is capable of playing some quality rugby if the other team lets them," Canadian veteran Ghislaine Landry told CBCSports.ca in April in reference to the English team.
Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Great Britain earned automatic qualifications due to their top-four finish during the 2014-15 HSBC Women's Sevens World Series. However, due to the number of groups and 'snake-draft' order of filling the pools, Canada earned a draw with No.4 Great Britain.
The following pools comprise the women's Olympic draw:
- Pool A: Australia, United States, Fiji, Colombia
- Pool B: New Zealand, France, Spain, Kenya
- Pool C: Canada, Great Britain, Brazil, Japan
The top two teams in each pool along with the two best third-place teams will advance to the Olympic quarter-finals. This format applies to both the men's and women's events.
Men's tournament also announced
Back-to-back Sevens World Series champion Fiji will also have a difficult road in its pool, drawing the high-octane USA Eagles and the stingy Pumas.
The following pools comprise the men's Olympic draw:
- Pool A: Fiji, United States, Argentina, Brazil
- Pool B: South Africa, Australia, France, Spain
- Pool C: New Zealand, Great Britain, Kenya, Japan
Nate Ebner, a safety on the New England Patriots, is currently with the U.S. team trying to earn a spot in Rio. Ebner played collegiate rugby at Ohio State University and featured on the U.S. Under-20 rugby 15s team.
As well, former National Rugby League and San Francisco 49ers player Jarryd Hayne is vying for a berth on the Fijian squad. Hayne, who was born in Australia, is eligible for the team because his father is Fijian.
Several high-profile 15s players, including two-time Rugby World Cup-winner Sonny Bill Williams and Argentinian speedster Juan Imhoff, have switched to the condensed version of rugby for a shot at Olympic glory.
Spain earned the final berths in both the men's and women's events after both teams won their respective last-chance qualifying tournaments.
With files from The Canadian Press