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Canadians are no strangers to cheering on Americans, but when it comes to this season of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, it’s a must.

The Americans have played in all five finals this tournament season and finally won their first title a week ago. That all adds up to first place overall in the series standings, a powerful statement about where the American program has progressed in four years under head coach Mike Friday.

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It also comes with a hefty dose of good news for the Canadians. In fact, Canadian coach Damian McGrath is brutally honest about what it means.

“The USA are doing us a big favour,” he said this week.

A favour? Well, if the Americans finish this season in the top four of the standings, they’ll automatically qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (This season’s top four teams qualify for Tokyo.)

Automatic qualification for the Americans would remove them from the North American Olympic qualifying tournament that’s slated for July 6-7 in the Cayman Islands.