Canada Men relegated, Uruguay returns to Sevens Series

Canada’s Men’s team have been officially relegated from the World Sevens Series. A 22-14 loss to Spain on Sunday brought a finish to a winless weekend in Madrid. Meanwhile Uruguay edged Chile to regain the core status they lost a year ago, and the USA kept their spot with a resounding win over Samoa.

So ends a miserable campaign for the Canadians, who finished the year with 29 consecutive defeats and won only 3 of 39 games across the course of the season. They were first awarded core status in 2012 and have been a staple on the senior circuit since.

The Maple Leafs still have a chance of qualifying for the Olympics but would need a complete turnaround in form to win the Repechage tournament in Monaco at the end of the month. Other leading contenders for the final spot at Paris 2024 are Great Britain, South Africa, and Spain.

Uruguay won two of three pool games to find themselves opposite Chile, whose only win in the opening stage was a slim result over Samoa. In their head-to-head clash tries from Diego Warnken and Gonzalo Lara had the Cóndores in the lead but with time up on the clock Juan Manuel Tafernaberry raced free to secure the result for Los Teros.

The USA finished the tournament unbeaten with wins over Germany, Uruguay, and Canada in the pool stage and finally Samoa in their season finale. Orrin Bizer, Lucas Lacamp, and Perry Baker each scored twice in the 40-19 victory that sent the 2009-10 champions out of the Series for the first time since its inception in 1999.

Kenya were the other core qualifiers after overwhelming Germany. The Simbas return to the circuit one year after they were relegated by the Canadians. Germany and Chile return to the Challenger Series that will now include Canada and Samoa next season.

The Olympic Repechage tournament takes place from June 21 to 23 in Monaco. Chile will join Canada, Brazil, and Mexico as Americas representatives. Argentina, Uruguay, and the USA have already qualified for the games that take place from July 24 to 27 at the Stade de France.

QUALIFIER RESULTS

POOL A
Canada 7 – 41 Uruguay
USA 40 – 19 Germany
Canada 14 – 19 Germany
USA 29 – 14 Uruguay
Uruguay 26 – 14 Germany
USA 14 – 7 Canada

POOL B
Samoa 12 – 19 Kenya
Spain 29 – 12 Chile
Samoa 19 – 21 Chile
Spain 10 – 5 Kenya
Kenya 36 – 7 Chile
Spain 31 – 0 Samoa

CHALLENGER FINALS
USA 40 – 19 Samoa
Germany 15 – 33 Kenya
Uruguay 12 – 10 Chile
Canada 14 – 22 Spain