The dream of getting to the 2024 Paris Olympics died Sunday for the Langford-based Canadian men’s rugby sevens team in the last-chance qualifying tournament at Stade Louis II in Monaco. The Canadians must now wait for Los Angeles 2028.
Canada went 2-1 in pool play in Monaco and then beat Chile 24-19 in extra time in the quarter-finals before losing 28-0 to South Africa in the semifinals as injuries reduced the Canadian roster to nine players. That was it, as only the winner of the last-chance tournament advanced to the Paris Games and the Stade de France next month, as the 12th and final Olympic qualifying team.
“It was obviously an incredibly emotional weekend, not the way I think anyone envisioned the year ending,” said Canada head coach Sean White of Victoria, in a statement.
“Throughout all of this we remained optimistic and positive and we really believed that our journey could end a different way. Anytime you finish with nine guys in a tournament, you’re up against the wall a little bit. I’m really gutted for the guys. They deserve a lot more.”
South Africa went on to claim the Olympic berth by beating Great Britain 14-5 in the nervy final. Spain beat Canada 31-14 in the meaningless bronze-medal game.
“The Olympics is the pinnacle and it comes only once every four years, so for it to come down to one day [today] is pretty ruthless, but that’s sport at the end of the day,” said Great Britain captain Robbie Fergusson, in a statement.
But it was joy for the South Africans: “We have some pretty special youngsters in our team. They made us proud this week,” said Blitzboks player Rosko Specman, in a statement. “[The Olympics] is the biggest sporting event in the world. It’s pretty special to play in an Olympics.”
For Canada, it was a second blow and followed its earlier relegation from the 12-team HSBC World Series to the second-tier Challenger Series for next season.
“We’ll take a look back at the program as a whole and then find out where we can continue to improve,” said White, the former Canada sevens and XV player, out of Oak Bay Secondary and James Bay Athletic Association.
“In the immediate future it’s going to hurt. I couldn’t be prouder to see the growth this group had against all odds and against all the adversity that they had to face, to show up and put that kind of effort in each game.”
Canada was a quarter-finalist in the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 with now-retired veterans such as UVic Vikes legend Nathan Hirayama, Connor Braid of Victoria and Harry Jones of North Vancouver. A suddenly youthful and rebuilding Canadian side was redirected through the last-chance qualifier this time around for Paris 2024 by placing second to the U.S. in the direct North American and Caribbean Olympic qualifying tournament held last summer at Starlight Stadium.
The Olympics-bound world top-five Canadian women’s sevens team, meanwhile, continues its preparation in Langford for the Paris Games. The Canadian women advanced by winning the North American and Caribbean Olympic qualifying tournament for Paris last August at Starlight Stadium.
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