Mike Fuailefau is sitting on the edge of an Olympian dream that began at St. Michaels University School.
“I was fortunate to go to a school that put such a huge focus on rugby,” he said.
But it is at the University of Victoria where his path intertwined with that of Nathan Hiryama, an all-time Vikes great.
“Both SMUS and UVic were hugely important in my development and are two of the best decisions I made,” said Fuailefau.
Added Hirayama: “I’ll always be a Vike.”
It is those career paths on the pitch that have led Fuailefau and Hirayama to perhaps the biggest moment of their careers as the Langford-based Canadian men’s sevens team plays in the North American and Caribbean qualifier today and Sunday in George Town, Cayman Islands, with the winning national side advancing to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.
The veterans on the Canadian team such as Fuailefau, Hirayama and captain Harry Jones of North Vancouver are hoping to make up for missing the 2016 Summer Olympics, when Canada placed second to the U.S. in the regional Olympic qualifier, and then again failed to qualify for Rio through the repechage last-chance world qualifier in Monaco as upstart Spain took the final Olympic berth.
“That was the lowest point of my career. It was devastating,” said Fuailefau.
“It’s a huge motivation and the reason why so many of us have struck around to get another kick at it.”
That has been the singular goal in training at Westhills Stadium.
“We ran a ton — 40 kilometres a week,” said Fuailefau.
“If you can’t play when you’re tired in rugby, you can’t play, period. The new norm in sevens is being exhausted.”
The national team believes it has done all it can to prepare.
“Everything we’ve done is to peak for this weekend,” said Hiryama.
Hirayama, Fuailefau and Jones will be abetted in the Cayman Islands by the youthful trio of Josiah Morra, Andrew Coe and Cooper Coats, who were rewarded for their breakout play at the final World Series tournaments in London and Paris with inclusion for the Olympic qualifier.
Also named to the Canadian team are Pat Kay of Duncan, Isaac Kaay of the UVic Vikes, Matt Mullins of James Bay, Phil Berna of UBC, Jake Thiel of Abbotsford and Adam Zaruba of North Vancouver.
The group knows the difficulties of a trying season will all be forgotten if it ends with Olympic qualification for Tokyo 2020.
The national side lost two months of preparation time last fall at Westhills Stadium because of a labour dispute with Rugby Canada. Then, head coach Damian McGrath was let go late in the World Series campaign and replaced by assistant coach Henry Paul on an interim basis.
Matters were compounded when Connor Braid of Victoria, the leading Canadian player on the season and second at the time in the World Series impact player of the year rankings, went down with a season-ending injury in the penultimate London Sevens tournament. The Oak Bay grad is hard to replace.
That’s a lot to overcome but Canada rallied to place top-eight in London and win the consolation side Challenge Trophy in the season-ending Paris Sevens.
“Sometimes, it’s a bumpy ride,” said Hirayama.
“That’s the nature of high-level sports. Things are not always going to run perfectly. But as an athlete, you get used to adversity. And now we have a chance to end things on a high.”
A big break for Canada is that the U.S. will not be at the Americas and Caribbean qualifier this weekend. The top four teams in the 2019 World Series standings qualified directly for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Fiji, New Zealand, South Africa and the U.S. earned those berths, meaning the Americans have no need to take part in the regional qualifier. That would appear to pave the way for world No. 11 Canada, which is used to far tougher competition as a core team in the World Series, although it can ill-afford to take anything for granted.
“Anything can happen in sevens and we are going to have to watch out for the likes of Mexico, Jamaica and Guyana,” warned Hirayama.
Canada opens today against Barbados, Mexico and Bermuda. The playoff rounds go Sunday. The tournament champion qualifies directly for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with the second and third place teams advancing to the repechage last-chance world qualifier next year where the 12th and final Olympic berth will be decided.
The 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Canada women’s sevens team, also based in Langford, has no need to take part in the regional tournament after qualifying directly for the Tokyo Olympics by placing in the top four of the 2019 World Series season.
