While Argentina looks to join New Zealand in securing a berth at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the battle at the other end of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series standings will add more drama to the penultimate stop of the men’s season in France this weekend.The All Blacks defeated Argentina 19-17 in the final in Singapore last month to become the first men’s team to join host France at the Olympics.
The Toulouse tournament, which runs Friday through Sunday, is also the final event of the seven-stop women’s circuit. The Canadian women, eighth in the standings, are in a pool with No. 1 New Zealand, the third-ranked United States and Poland, an invitational side.The number of core teams in the men’s World Series is being reduced to 12 from 16 next season to match the number of women’s sides and to align with the Olympic competition structure.
The teams ranked 12th, 13th and 14th at the end of Toulouse – currently Spain , Kenya and Canada – will move into a four-team relegation playoff together with Tonga, the Challenger Series 2023 winners, in the 11th and final round of the season in London on May 20-21. Much of the spotlight in Toulouse will be on No. 11 Uruguay, which at 49 points has a slender one-point lead over No. 12 Spain. Both teams will be looking to avoid the relegation playoff in London.
The Canadian men picked up one point in two of their nine previous tournaments this season and left with two points as the 14th-place finisher in five others including the last two stops in Hong Kong and Singapore. Canada has had its share of bad luck, missing out on the Cup quarter-finals on points difference in Vancouver despite winning two of three in pool play including an impressive 29-12 win over Australia, currently fifth in the standings.Brock Webster returns from injury while Jack Carson joins the men’s squad after helping University of British Columbia win the Canadian university championship in December and more recently the B.C. Premier League championship.