After two successive years of cancellations of the HSBC World Series Canada Sevens, with an empty-stadium Olympics thrown into the process at Tokyo, rugby players are ready for some fan interaction. They will get it today and Sunday at the Canada Sevens women’s tournament at Starlight Stadium.
“We haven’t had an opportunity to do this at home since 2019,” said Canadian team player Pamphinette Buisa.
“It’s good to feel semi-normal. We are hungry for rugby and to have community once again. I am excited to see my friends and former coaches and teammates in the stands cheering us on and to experience that joy,” said the graduate of the University of Victoria Vikes rugby program.
The ball might get slippery today in group play with drier conditions projected for Sunday’s medal rounds.
“We train here in Langford all the time so we’re used to it,” said Buisa. “Rain, shine, whatever, we’ll be ready.”
Buisa, 25, represents the group of players who joined the national side following the bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. A new group of even younger players has been added since as the team looks to recover from its acutely disappointing ninth-place finish last summer in the Tokyo Olympics.
“We are focusing on the now with a new wave of athletes,” said Buisa.
Canada captain Breanne Nicholas, as with Buisa, joined the national team following the Rio Olympics and helped Canada win gold at the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games.
Nicholas captains by quiet determination and admits she is not one for rah-rah dressing room speeches and theatrics: “I am more technical and tactical and lead by example and am black and white and to the point.”
Also key among the small, but vital, Canada veteran corps is Bianca Farella, one of the few holdovers from the 2016 Rio Olympic-medallist squad. She knows that at age 30, her role has changed.
“I’m here to maintain control and give direction when needed,” said the native of Montreal, who is second on the all-time HSBC World Series career try-scoring list with 153, behind Kiwi Portia Woodman’s 195.
Canadian head coach Jack Hanratty said there is a reason the Canadian team is youthful as it looks to build to Paris 2024: “The young players are many of the best players we have right now and the 18-19 year-olds are getting game experience here.”
That makes the veteran guidance provided by Buisa, Farella, Nicholas, Olivia Apps and 36-year-old two-time Olympian Elissa Alarie of Westshore RFC even more integral.
“We need to stay in the moment and win in the moment,” said Hanratty.
World No. 8 Canada is coming off the high of winning the Americas’ regional qualifying tournament last weekend in Nassau, Bahamas, to stamp its ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. The other big event this summer is the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Host Canada opens today in Pool A at 11 a.m. against Spain followed by a 2 p.m. fixture against Mexico and a 6 p.m. game against HSBC World Series standings-leading Australia.
The Canada Sevens tournament opens this morning at 9:30 a.m. with the U.S. kicking off against Tokyo Olympic bronze-medallist Fiji. Tokyo Olympic-champion New Zealand will be making its first HSBC World Series appearance of the season after lingering travel restrictions forced the Black Ferns to miss the first four tournaments.
The 14-minute games run in rapid succession all day. The top-two teams from each of the three pools, along with the top-two third-place teams, will advance to the quarter-finals. The medal rounds, beginning with the quarter-finals, run all day Sunday through to the final at 5 p.m.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
