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The Canadians kick off pool play on Saturday vs. Japan at 8:30 a.m. PT (12:30 p.m. local).

The team has played full-on scrimmages in preparation, with “kickoffs” at the same time as their three scheduled pool games. (Canada’s second game on Saturday is vs. Brazil at 3:30 p.m. PT.)

They’ve also played in three-day events before — events on the Women’s World Series are usually two days — so the Rio schedule won’t be a problem.

The Sunday game vs. Great Britain (8:30 a.m. PT) will likely settle first and second place in the group. Their quarterfinal match will go later on Sunday, either at 1:30 or 2 p.m. PT, depending on their final placing. Either way, the path to the semis is clear: they’ll play the second place team from either group — most likely the USA and either France or Spain — teams the Canadians have generally handled well in series play the last three seasons.

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“We’ve got an ‘as one’ attitude,” Moleschi said. It was hard to see friends come up short on selection, Moleschi admitted, “but you know what they’ve put in.”

“We’re here because of that,” she said. “We’re not a team of seven (on the field), of 12 (in the Olympic squad), we’re 26.”

Head coach John Tait assembled a large training group at Rugby Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Victoria.

“The girls at home, they made this happen,” Moleschi said. “Any one of us could have come up short. Every time you put on that jersey, you’re reminded of who has come before.”

The team has settled nicely into Olympic Village life. They flew down to Rio last weekend after a final training week in Toronto. This week has been about acclimating to the weather: it’s been mid-20s all week and, of course, humid. Temperatures this weekend are expected to climb into the high 20s, possibly even creeping into the 30s.