Tomorrow kicks off the inaugural Canada Women’s 7s, the fourth stop on the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, to be held in Langford, B.C.. The USA enters the tournament in 5^th place in the standings, having leapfrogged England after its second place finish at last month’s Atlanta 7s.

The Eagles have a nice build-up in pool play. Tomorrow begins against 11^th ranked South Africa, a team that the USA beat 36-5 in Atlanta. The Boks struggled in the tournament, managing to score only 12 points over two days of play.

The competition picks up against Russia, currently ranked 7^th and only eight standings points behind the USA. The pair will play for the fifth time this year, and the Eagles will look to extend their undefeated record against the Russians. But don’t be fooled by that winless record; the Russians played extremely well in Atlanta, dropping games to New Zealand (17-12) and Canada (28-17) – the top two ranked teams on the circuit – and finishing a try short of the Eagles on two occasions. Watch for Ekaterina Kazakova and Nadezda Kudinova, who always find a way to the try zone.

That leaves Canada to round out the USA’s pool play, and posting a win against the tournament host is a big ask. Canada is playing really well, but has yet to compete in a final. Losses to Australia kept Canada out of the Dubai and Sao Paola championship matches, and a 24-22 loss to eventual Atlanta champion relegated Canada to the third place game. A good cast of veterans that includes Ashley Steacy, Kelly Russell, Bianca Farella, Karen Paquin, Elissa Alarie, Ghislaine Landry and Kayla Moleschi will use the extra motivation of playing at home to change the team's trend.

The USA is bringing a mix of youth and experience, but the team can always do with more of the latter. Irene Gardner injects some wisdom into the squad, making her ’14-'15 series debut, and Bui Baravilala has the chance to build on her solid return to the 7s game. Kelly Griffin and Vix Folayan still anchor the core squad, but Alex Kelter continues to impress with every outing, and Kristen Thomas remains exciting around the corner.

Although the USA is in a tough pool, the Eagles are expected to qualify for the Cup round on Sunday.

Canada Women 7s (all times in Pacific Daylight Time)
12:28 p.m. USA v South Africa
3:28 p.m. USA v Russia
6:50 p.m. USA v Canada