No one is looking across the Pacific just yet. But the Langford-based Canadian women’s sevens rugby team began its quest for 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification strongly Saturday at the USA Sevens in Glendale, Colorado.
The 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medallists defeated Fiji 26-7, Ireland 24-12 and France 24-10 in pool play in the opening tournament of the World Series season.
Canada’s championship-flight quarter-final opponent today was not decided by press time.
Canadian captain Ghislaine Landry’s try in the victory over France made her the first female player in history to score more than 1,000 career points in the World Series. 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.
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, the including host Japan, which qualifies automatically.
“Obviously, [Olympic qualifying] adds higher stakes,” Landry said heading into the tournament in Colorado.
“We’re just looking to perform, and the results and tallies will take care of themselves.”
