THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — After having qualified for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Canada looks to prove it belongs in the expanded HSBC Sevens World Series.
Australia’s Gold Coast Sevens, slated for Oct. 13-14, also marks the next step of a Canadian rugby journey that hopefully will lead to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Canada has been drawn in a pool with the U.S., defending series champion New Zealand and South Africa to start the Australian competition.
The Canadian men defeated the U.S. 26-19 in August in Ottawa to win the North American Caribbean Rugby Association qualifying event for the World Cup Sevens in Moscow next June.
"I don’t know what it is but we seem to be playing them all the time at the moment," Canadian sevens coach Geraint John said of the Americans.
"That was a difficult game. They have some very good athletes there."
The Canadian men had lost core status on the sevens circuit but have been restored thanks to an expansion that increased the number of core teams to 15 with one additional team added per season.
Canada won the core team qualifying tournament in Hong Kong in March, beating Spain 22-5 in the final. Spain and Portugal are the other two new core teams.
They were to compete on a 10-stop circuit, but the schedule has been reduced to nine with Argentina’s decision not to host an event.
Canada played in five events on last season’s circuit.
The Australian sevens event in Brisbane conflicts with the 15-man Americas Rugby Championship, which has games Oct. 12, 16 and 20 in Langford, B.C.
Rugby Canada has decided that the priority will be given to the sevens competition in Australia, John said.
"We want to make an impression at the start of the tournament," he said.
John will take 12 players to Australia.
Rugby Canada will monitor the final Canadian Rugby Championship game, between the Rock and Ontario Blues in St. John’s on Saturday, before announcing the sevens and 15-man roster split.
Sevens captain Nathan Hirayama is still recovering from shoulder surgery and probably won’t be available for Australia. Sean White is being monitored after taking a knock to the head and Conor Trainor is unavailable because of school commitments.
The October ARC tournament features domestic 15-man squads from Canada and the U.S., the full Uruguayan national team and a third- or fourth-string side from Argentina.
Canada will be using its amateur players because the tournament falls outside the IRB’s international window so pro clubs do not have to give up their players.
John is enthusiastic with the sevens pool of talent at his disposal, noting he had players at young as 17 as a recent 28-man camp in Victoria.
On the sevens front, John says there is still no word on Olympic qualifying.
But whatever the format, it won’t be easy with just a 12-team field.
As far as the World Series is concerned, the top 12 teams will go to one event after the eighth stop on the circuit and the bottom three will go into a qualifying process at a London event to retain their core status.
NOTES — Canadian Sherry Trumbull has been named to the International Rugby Board’s female referee panels for 2012-13 … The IRB has confirmed dates for the Canadian 15-man side’s November tour. Kieran Crowley’s squad will play Samoa on Nov. 9 and Russia on Nov. 17, both in Colwyn Bay, Wales, before taking on the Maori All Blacks on Nov. 23 in Oxford.