Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Rugby Americas North has confirmed the teams and pools for the 2016 Rugby Americas North 7s, to be held at the CIC Grounds in Trinidad & Tobago’s capital city, Port of Spain. A total of 14 nations will be represented in the men’s bracket with 10 in the women in the annual tournament. Olympic Bronze Medallists Canada will send a development team for the women, with the men also to be represented by their Maple Leafs program. The USA, surprisingly, has opted not to send a team.
A four-pool structure will be used for the men’s draw, with three teams in each of pools A and B, and four in each of pools C and D. Teams will play in a round-robin format on Day One, with the top two from each pool moving ahead to the finals on Day Two. The women will use a slightly different format, with only two pools of five teams each. Three pool games are set for Day One, with the final pool match on Day Two followed by the finals that will see the top two teams in each pool play off in the semi-finals.
Last year’s tournament doubled as an Olympic qualifier and while this year’s edition will not enjoy that status, it remains one of the most prestigious sevens tournaments outside the HSBC Sevens Series across the Americas. For the Canadian teams, the tournament serves as an ideal development opportunity for young players and a chance for fringe players to gain valuable game time and press for spots on their senior teams.
The tournament kicks off on Saturday, November 12 with all matches set to be streamed live.
