Vancouver gets set for HSBC Canada Sevens Series; organizers welcome the world and prepare for a weekend of sport and celebration.

VANCOUVER, BC (Wednesday, March 9th, 2016) – The Canada Sevens organizing committee held a press conference today to celebrate the inaugural HSBC Canada Sevens Men’s Rugby Tournament to Vancouver.

With three days to go until the HSBC Canada Men’s Sevens Vancouver tournament begins, the city of Vancouver has responded with a sellout crowd of 60,000 fans over the course of two day tournament that takes place March 12 and 13 at BC Place Stadium.

“Over the last two days, we have had the privilege of greeting the world’s best sevens players at Vancouver International Airport with a traditional first nations welcome, and the response has been incredible. We are so very proud to showcase our city, our province and our country to the world, and deliver on an outstanding experience for all. We’ll be wearing our red Canadian jerseys with pride this weekend, and cheering on our boys who we know will do us all proud” said Bill Cooper, CEO Canada Sevens.

The 16 teams participating this weekend began arriving on Monday morning and are being welcomed with a traditional first nations witness ceremony on behalf of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

“This weekend marks an incredibly important moment for the sport of Rugby Sevens in our country,” said Allen Vansen, newly announced Chief Executive Officer for Rugby Canada. “Hosting an event of this caliber, and bringing the world to the outstanding BC Place stadium in beautiful downtown Vancouver, is a huge opportunity to grow and strengthen Rugby in Canada. Canadians from coast-to-coast have gotten behind our Men¹s Sevens Team for what will be the largest ever Canadian crowd for rugby, which is incredibly exciting with our team looking to book their spot at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games later this year.”

With ticket sales originally capping out at 28,000 per day, the two day tournament was sold out on February 25th, and due to continued demand the organizing committee released an additional 5,000 tickets to fans resulting in an anticipated crowd of 60,000 over the course of the weekend - the largest ever for a rugby event in Canadian history.

“When we set out to bid for this event last year, few even imagined we would be just days to the start with this kind of momentum and excitement,” said John Furlong, Rugby Sevens Bid Chair and Chairman of the Board for the HSBC Canada Sevens. “It been a true honour to be a part of the dedicated team that has worked tirelessly to bring this inaugural event to life, and make Vancouver, BC and all of Canada proud in hosting the world this weekend. With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games just months away, watch for rugby sevens to be the sport everyone wants to watch and cheer on. A huge thanks to everyone who bought a ticket, we’ll see you there, and to all who will watch on TV this weekend. Your support is invaluable.”

Beginning today, rugby mania will take over Vancouver. Team captains from the world’s best sevens teams will gather in front of the Olympic Cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza to participate in the traditional Captains photo at approximately 1:45pm. The photo, which takes place on every stop of the tour, serves to welcome participating countries and showcase the captains within the unique landscape of the host city.

 

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