Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team to take part in invitational tournament alongside HSBC SVNS Vancouver in preparation for Challenger series

Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team will return to competition this upcoming February as they continue their journey to qualifying for the 2026 HSBC SVNS series, competing in an invitational men’s sevens tournament taking place alongside HSBC SVNS Vancouver ahead of participating in the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger.  

Canada will play Japan and Trinidad and Tobago at BC Place, with matches integrated into the HSBC SVNS Vancouver schedule on Friday February 21 and Saturday February 22, 2025. Passes to HSBC SVNS Vancouver will give fans access to this men’s invitational tournament, with full ticket details available at vansevens.com.  

The tournament, which Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team will use as part of their final roster selection for the first stops of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger, will be structured as a double round robin, with three games on February 21 and three games on February 22. Full schedule details and kick-off times for both the men’s invitational and HSBC SVNS Vancouver will be announced closer to the event.  

“We’re very happy to have World Rugby support our participation in an invitational in Vancouver. This will be another step in our preparations towards the Challenger series taking place the following weekend in Cape Town,” said Sean White, Head Coach of Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team.  

“Granted this is not the format we aimed to be in at Vancouver Sevens, any chance our players have to play in front of a home crowd, in front of family and friends, is such an incredible opportunity and one we could not pass up. It will show our players who haven’t experienced Vancouver a glimpse of what we are working towards and it will remind our players who have experienced Vancouver Sevens just how much these moments mean on home soil. It will be an awesome opportunity that we can’t wait to share with the Canadian rugby fans in Vancouver and across the country. Looking forward to a great send off on our way to Cape Town for the start of the Challenger series.” 

This November, Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team won Rugby Americas North Sevens, a regional qualification event for the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger. Canada didn’t allow a single point against throughout the entire tournament, beating hosts Trinidad and Tobago (who they will face once again in Vancouver) 38-0 in the final match to earn their berth in the Challenger series.  

Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team last met Japan, who will also compete in the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger, in April 2023 at the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, while Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team played Japan at BC Place just this past August. 

Following the tournament in Vancouver, Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team will travel to Cape Town for the first two tournaments in the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger, which were recently announced to take place in South Africa on back-to-back weekends, kicking off on March 1. 

Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team will then compete in the final World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger stop in Krakow, Poland over April 11 to 12. 

The top four teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger will secure a spot in the promotion and relegation play-off competition at the HSBC SVNS World Championship taking place May 3 to 4 in Los Angeles, at which four HSBC SVNS 2026 berths are up for grabs. 

Tickets for HSBC SVNS Vancouver and the men’s invitational tournament are available for purchase at vansevens.com. Questions regarding ticket purchases can be directed to tickets@vansevens.com of 604-355-5330. For more information on suites, please contact suites@vansevens.com. Please note that these inboxes will be monitored during regular office hours, Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm PT. 

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