U.S. men, women qualify for Olympic rugby sevens
The U.S. men's and women's rugby sevens teams qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro by winning the North America Caribbean Rugby Association sevens championship on Sunday.
The men defeated Canada, 21–5, in the final and the women defeated Mexico 88–0.
Sevens rugby is a seven-on-seven variation of the typical 15-a-side game. The game usually consists of two seven-minute halves, as opposed to the 40-minute halves in the 15-player version. The championship game of tournament is sometimes played as two 10-minute halves, as was the case with Sunday's finals.
On the men's side, Fiji, South Africa, England and New Zealand have already qualified for the Olympics by virtue of finishing in the top four of the HSBC Sevens World Series. Argentina has qualified as South America's champion and Brazil earns an automatic entry as the host nation. They will be joined in the 12-team field by the continental champions Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa, along with the winner of the Olympic qualifying tournament.
In addition to the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, England, Canada and Colombia have qualified for the 12-team women's tournament.
• Kenyan rugby player ruins $94,000 camera with his signature
- Dan Gartland
