Rugby Canada women could clinch Olympic berth on Friday

May 20, 2015

Feature photo: Karen Paquin at Canada Sevens (Lorne Collicutt)

Coming off a second place finish in London last weekend, the Canadian women’s rugby sevens team is on the verge of Olympic qualification, which may be accomplished Friday afternoon.

With 76 points from five competitions, Canada is third in the 2014-15 standings heading into the final sevens tournament of the year in Amsterdam. The top four countries make it to Rio from this series and mathematically, Canada simply needs to get to the quarterfinals this weekend to book an Olympic spot.

Live stream of Amsterdam Sevens here

Canadian captain Jen Kish breaks away against Brazil at Atlanta Sevens in the 2015 season (Photo: Ron LeBlanc).

New Zealand is the only country that is through to Rio 2016, Australia is tied with Canada on points but ahead on tiebreak after topping the Canadians in London.

The schedule for Friday is as follows (all times eastern):

7:48 – Spain

10:32 – Netherlands

13:16 – France

Jen Kish (in red on the right) lines up with other captains at Amsterdam Sevens (Photo: World Rugby).

Of the three nations, France is the trickiest test. Tied with the USA for that coveted fourth and final qualification spot, France will be desperate for a win. Canada should be in good shape heading into that match, preceded by 10^th place Spain and an invited Netherlands squad not in the series, an unknown element could be problematic, though only the match will tell.

If all goes as planned, on Friday the women’s sevens team will make history as the first group of Canadian female rugby players to clinch an Olympic berth.