Vancouver this weekend, then on to four of the world’s most spectacular cities over the next two months — Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris and London.

The HSBC World Sevens Series’ schedule for the Canadian men’s rugby sevens team reads like something out of a Great Cities of the World travelogue.

And while this weekend’s tournament at BC Place Stadium — the first time this fan-festive riot of rugby has come to a Canadian city — is an important event for the home-nation team, it’s a mid-June trip to the tiny principality of Monaco that weighs most heavily on the minds of the players, coaching staff and Rugby Canada.

It’s in the casino haven for high rollers, and at the iconic, 18,500-seat Stade Louis II, where Canada’s dream of being at Rio for the sport’s Olympic debut will either live or die.

Sixteen countries will play for the 12th and final Olympic spot, the odds seemingly incalculable given the capricious nature of the 14-minute, one-mistake-can-kill-you sevens game.

“It’s the elephant in the room,” head coach Liam Middleton said Tuesday of the last-chance qualifier. “We reviewed (last weekend’s HSBC World Series) Las Vegas tournament just before we came to training today and we talked about the Olympic qualifier, which we shouldn’t be doing.”

But the Canadians’ tournament in Vegas ended with a disappointing 24-12 loss to Samoa. The Samoans, who sit No. 11 in the World Series standings, and the No. 12 Canadians will be the top-ranked teams in Monaco.

“Every tournament we play is preparation for the Olympic qualifier in some way,” said Middleton. “We’re still in the moment, we still want to do really well in Vancouver, but we also know that every game is a chance to refine our game for that big moment.”

The Canadian women’s seven squad has already qualified for Rio. And it can’t be overstated how important it would be for the Canadian men to qualify as well.

The sevens game has grown dramatically around the world, enhanced in recent months by the number of 15-a-side stars who have switched over to sevens for a shot at an Olympic medal. Both the Canadian men and women won gold last summer at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, but the profile gained from an Olympic appearance will mean far more in the chase for increased funding and more corporate sponsorships.

The match against Samoa on Sunday was the third time the Canadians have played that country in the first five World Series events this season.

“The thing about playing them so often is that we’re starting to learn little things about them that we’ll adjust every time we play them,” said Middleton, whose team is 1-2 in the meetings.

Phil Mack, the veteran from Victoria who played in his Canadian-record 50th World Series event in Las Vegas, said the squad is trying to adopt a mindset that every game between now and June “is going to be our Olympic qualifier.

“Playing Samoa is going to happen again. They ended up getting the better of us (on Sunday), but if you look at tape, we did a lot of good things.”

Canada was a disappointing 14th at Las Vegas, its worst finish of 2015-16. But it’s already ancient history for the players.

“What was Vegas again? “ cracked Canadian captain John Moonlight.

“The game is so quick that even on the day, you’ve got to be able to put stuff behind you. It wasn’t our best performance. A couple of small things didn’t go our way, a couple of bad bounces … but this weekend, we’re going to stick to our game plan, do what we’re good at and show the fans a good time.”

Raucous crowds of 30,000-plus are expected Saturday and Sunday. The Canadians tried to prepare for that on Tuesday by piping in ear drum-splitting crowd noise during training. With the roof closed, and drawing on the Pan Am Games atmosphere, Middleton said he expects the noise to be far louder than at other World Series venues.

“The Canadian fan is very focused on the performance and really gets into what’s happening on the field. Sometimes when you go to other tournaments, it’s a sellout but half the people are (more) involved in what’s going on around in the pubs and the party.

“I felt the crowd at the Pan Am Games was into rugby, they appreciated what was going on between the four lines and that’s where the noise level is going to increase. We just wanted to get comfortable with that.”

The Canadian players are keenly aware they will face added pressure playing at home. Playing on the same type of artificial turf they practise on in suburban Victoria and having the crowd behind them, expectations will be high.

“Any given weekend, any team can beat anybody, especially with the competitiveness of the series now,” said Mack. “We knocked off (No. 7) England (in Vegas), then got knocked off by (No. 15) Russia. It’s a crazy game. If you’re asleep for two minutes, the game is over before you know it.

“We’re going to do our best to knuckle down and get some wins for the fans.”

HSBC RUGBY WORLD SEVENS SERIES

WHAT: A 10-stop men’s tour that includes events in Dubai, South Africa, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Las Vegas. Canada is hosting a men’s event for the first time with Vancouver being the sixth stop on the 2015-16 series.

WHERE: BC Place Stadium.

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday. Games start at 9:30 a.m. both days, running to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 630 p.m. on Sunday.

FAN ACCESS: Ticket holders are permitted to leave and re-enter once before 1 p.m. Fans leaving the stadium after 1 p.m. are not permitted re-entry.

FORMAT: The 16 countries are divided into four pools. Canada is in a Pool B with Australia, Russia and Wales. Pool A consists of Fiji, Samoa, Kenya and Portugal. Pool C has South Africa, Scotland, Argentina and Brazil. Pool D features the United States, France, New Zealand and England.

Four trophies are up for grabs. The top two teams in each pool advance to Sunday’s Cup competition. The four quarter-final losers drop into the bracket for the Plate.

The Bowl is contested by the third- and fourth-place finishers in each pool, with the quarter-final losers there, dropping into a competition for the Shield.

CANADA’S SATURDAY GAMES: 12:04 p.m. Canada vs. Wales; 3:40 p.m. Canada vs. Australia; 7:28 p.m. Canada vs. Russia. (Full schedule is at canadasevens.com)

CURRENT SERIES STANDINGS:

1. Fiji, 91 points

2. South Africa, 86

3. New Zealand, 82

4. Australia, 73

5. USA, 64

6. Argentina, 64

7. England, 52

8. Kenya, 52

9. France, 36

10. Scotland, 32

11. Samoa, 31

12. Canada, 23

13. Wales, 22

14. Japan, 20

15. Russia, 12

16. Portugal, 9

17. Zimbabwe, 1

RUGBY SEVENS, A PRIMER: Sevens features just seven players a side (rather than 15), but is still played on a full-sized field. Each team gets five substitutes.

Games are just 14 minutes long — two seven-minute halves, with a one-minute break.

Scrums include just three players per side.

Conversion attempts on a try must be drop-kicked and must happen within 40 seconds of scoring a try.

Kickoffs are taken by the team that just scored the try (rather than the conceding team in the 15’s game). Yellow-carded players sit out for two minutes (rather than the 10 minutes in 15’s).

gkingston@postmedia.com