Festive rugby tournament gives Canada’s stars their first chance to shine in front of home fans

The Canadian men’s rugby sevens team, many of whom are B.C. natives, trains year-round and travels the world playing to sold-out crowds. But they’ve never had the chance to play in a tournament on home soil in front of friends and family — until this year. The team, which trains on Vancouver Island, finally gets its homecoming this weekend with the HSBC World Sevens Series rugby tournament hitting B.C. Place. The tournament, one of 10 stops on a global circuit, added Vancouver as its newest (and first Canadian) stop, putting the city on the map alongside other world-class hosts like London, Hong Kong, Sydney and Cape Town.