So it begins.
Rugby sevens player Caroline Crossley of Victoria scored the first points of 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifying for Canada, in any sport, over the weekend in Glendale, Colorado.
The Canadian women’s rugby team then went on show there may be plenty more tries where that came from in earning the bronze medal Sunday in the USA Sevens.
The top-four teams in this season’s World Series standings will qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first quartet of 12 teams to eventually do so, including host Japan, which qualifies automatically.
The six-tournament 2018-19 World Series runs through Dubai next month, Sydney in February, the Japan Sevens in April, the Canada Sevens on May 11-12 at Westhills Stadium in Langford, and the France Sevens in Paris next June.
Canada is currently third and looking for more as they hope to end up in Tokyo in two years just as their Olympic campaign began in Colorado over the weekend — on the podium.
“Going into Dubai, we’re looking to prove a lot,” said Canadian player Kayla Moleschi.
The 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Canadian side did just that in Colorado, beating Fiji 26-7, Ireland 24-12 and France 24-10 in pool play before defeating Russia 21-17 in the quarter-finals. Canada rebounded by a 28-19 loss in the semifinals to the powerhouse New Zealand Black Ferns with a 28-0 victory over France in the bronze-medal game.
“This puts us on the right foot,” said Moleschi.
“It was a full, 12-player effort all through the weekend. We couldn’t ask for a better result. Obviously, we’re going for gold every time we take the field. But we’re coming away with wins and staying together.”
The months of training at Westhills Stadium paid off, said Canadian head coach John Tait.
“This was a really good start for us,” said Tait. “The players put in a lot of hard work to prepare for this and took ownership of that preparation.”
