No money for men’s sevens rugby

Own The Podium won’t fund team for 2017-18 fiscal year

Rugby Canada is facing a big blow to the wallet with news that Own The Podium won’t fund the Canadian men’s sevens program for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

The men’s sevens team, which has struggled on the field in recent years, got $850,000 in OTP-recommended funding in 2016-17. Rugby Canada said it is still determining the impact of the funding cuts on the men’s sevens program for the remainder of the 2017 season.

The men’s team failed to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

“We have taken steps to improve our on-field performance and to further develop our men’s sevens pathway,” Rugby Canada CEO Allen Vansen said in a statement.

The Canadian men stand 12th in the Sevens World Series standings after four events, although they did finish fourth in Wellington, New Zealand, under new coach Damian McGrath. He says the program is suffering from lack of depth.

The team was 13th overall last season, ninth in 2014-15 and sixth in 2013-14. Like the women’s sevens players, the men are centralized in Langford, B.C.

“It is our mission,” Vansen said, “to run a highly competitive worldclass men’s sevens program … with the objective of qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and competing for a medal.”

The funding cut comes just weeks before the Canada Sevens, the home stop on the Sevens World Series. In its second year on the circuit, the Vancouver event has become a hit, with organizers releasing more tickets after the original allotment of 66,000 over the two days at B.C. Place Stadium sold out.

The Canadian women won bronze in Rio and are due to receive $1.97 million for 2017-18.