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A year ago, Canada was at the beginning of a long journey.

The plan was for it to finish in Rio.

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It didn’t.

After a long, mostly frustrating season on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the Canadians came up short in a do or die qualifying tournament in Monaco.

In many ways, the start of the journey summed up so much that came after.

In Dubai, the Canadians opened against Fiji. Fiji went on to win gold in Rio.

Fiji won 63-14.

It was a shock to the senses. Canada fell behind, and never recovered. That was the story of the game. It could be the story of the season.

“I remember the game well, it seemed like Fiji couldn’t do a thing wrong,” Canada captain John Moonlight recalls.

In what could be considered a second kick at the can, Moonlight and his mates face Fiji again this weekend in Dubai (live stream available at worldrugby.org), again to open the tournament and the season.