The qualification process for the 2016 Olympics in Rio was announced by the IRB today. The format is exactly what has been rumored for over a year. The process for men and women is exactly the same. The first qualifiers will be those that finish in the top four on the 2014-15 men's and women's IRB Sevens Series. Teams that do not finish in that category will then play in their regional tournament for one additional berth. If a team does not qualify through this mechanism a playoff will be held. Africa and Asia will each send three teams to the repechage, Europe four, and NACRA, Oceania, and South America two. Brazil automatically qualify as hosts.
Great Britain will be a combination of Wales, England, and Scotland. The regional qualifying tournaments are expected to take place in the second half of 2015 and it is widely expected that the NACRA men's and women's tournament will take place at the PanAm Games in Toronto.
We'll have more on the Eagles chances of qualifying later today.