Canadian "triple-threat" look to dominate at Pan Am Games rugby sevens

If form is anything to go by, Canada’s rugby sevens women’s team should produce a strong performance at this year’s Pan Am Games come July. With the release of the Rugby 7s schedule – the first time a women’s rugby sevens has been added to the Pan Ams - Canada’s biggest test will come against Team USA and Brazil who are currently ranked fifth and 10^th in the world respectively at the shortened version of the game.

During a conference call Thursday with head coach John Tait, captain Jen Kishand, super forward Ghislaine Landry and Ashley Steacy, the players spoke of an overwhelmingly tight-knit connection the team has and how it has spent a good decade together playing the game it loves. It’s that unity and cohesion that will make it difficult for their Pan Am opposition to prepare against the hosts. It's also largely why Canada, a team full of world-class finishers, has been tabbed the favourite to grab a gold medal next month. 

“The biggest threat is the U.S. but we’re prepared. We hope that stadium can get really loud for the team,” said Kishand. “The three of us make it hell for the other teams. It’s the triple threat. When we’re all on we’re unstoppable.”

Ranked second in the world and number one in North America for rugby sevens, the Canadians will look to stamp their authority over their North American rivals who are determined to use home soil and big crowds at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium to their advantage. Also, too, they bring into the tournament a rich vein of form: they qualified for Rio 2016, they recently beat Australia (20-17) and USA (19-14) in Amsterdam and let’s not forget last year’s heroics when they fell short 21-9 to England at the 2014 World Cup.

Rugby sevens is played with seven players on the field instead of 15 with five subs and comprises of two seven-minute halves instead of 40-minute halves. All conversion attempts must be drop kicks – not place kicks – and scrums encompass three players from each team rather than eight. The game is stripped down to create a swift, more attacking style of play in just under 30-minutes. Much like other sports who have adopted short alternatives, such as Cricket’s T20 or Tennis’ Fast4, rugby sevens aim to enthrall fans in a short period of time.

Canada will play five preliminary games over two days before the medal games that will be slated for late Sunday afternoon on July 12. They will compete against Brazil, USA, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico and will be looking toward leading scorer Ghislaine Landry to continue her great run of form. Landry has 21 tries in 17 matches and has racked up 151 points so far this season.