Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
World Rugby has confirmed the dates of all regional qualifying tournaments for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Three tournaments will be held in the Americas, with separate events for the Men and Women in South America and a combined event in North America.
The South American women will start things off on June 1-2 in Lima, Peru, with South America’s men taking to the field on June 29-30 in Santiago, Chile. In both tournaments the winner will advance directly to the Olympics with the next two teams moving into the Repechage competition in 2020.
Ten teams will compete in each of the men’s and women’s South American divisions. Those participating include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Previous winners of the events in 2015 were the Argentina men and Colombia women.
The North American qualification pathway is slightly different. While the men will have the same format as the above, the women may not award a direct qualifying spot pending the results of the HSBC Sevens Series. Should Canada and the USA both qualify directly from the circuit, the top two teams will move to the Repechage.
Both the men and women’s North American tournaments will be played in the Cayman Islands capital of George Town on July 6-7. Competing teams at the events will be finalised closer to their start dates.
Winners of the 2016 Olympic qualifying tournaments in North America were the USA in both the men’s and women’s brackets. With both of those teams currently ranked in the top four of the HSBC Sevens Series, there could be two new winners at the regional level.
The fortunes of the Men’s Eagles in particular have seen Canada’s chances for qualification greatly enhanced. Currently ranked first overall, the Eagles are on course for automatic qualification to Tokyo meaning Canada would be the overwhelming favorites to win the North American tournament.
The dates and venue of the final Repechage tournament in 2020 are to be confirmed.
