Canada unveils men's, women's rosters for this week's Olympic rugby sevens qualifier

Phil Berna and Olivia Apps will captain the Canadian sides looking to secure Olympic qualification at the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens this weekend in Langford, B.C.

The two-day qualifying tournament features seven men's and five women's rugby sevens teams with one Olympic berth for next year in Paris on the line for each. The second- and third-place sides will have one last crack at Olympic qualification via a world repechage tournament.

The men's competition in Langford is divided into two pools, with Canada grouped with Barbados, Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The other group features the U.S., Mexico and Bermuda.

Canada will open against St. Vincent and the Grenadines before playing Barbados and Jamaica on Saturday with the top two in each pool crossing over to meet in Sunday's semifinals.

The women's field has just one pool with Canada opening against Mexico on Saturday before facing St. Lucia and Jamaica on Saturday. The Canadians will then wrap up pool play Sunday against St. Vincent and the Grenadines with the top two teams meeting in the final.

The Canadian women's road to Paris is eased by the fact the Americans have already qualified as one of the top four teams in the 2023 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series season standings.

New Zealand, Australia, the U.S. and Ireland finished atop the women's table, with Ireland taking the place of No. 4 France, which has automatic qualification in the 12-country Paris field as Olympic host.

New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia secured automatic qualification for the men, with the fifth-place Australians benefitting from France finishing fourth.

The Canadian women finished ninth in the overall season standings while the men placed 14th.

The Langford