Canada’s Men’s Sevens team has been named for the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens Olympic qualifier in the Cayman Islands on July 6-7th, 2019.
Canada finished their 2018-19 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series on an uptick, cracking the top eight in London before finishing it off with a Challenge Trophy win in Paris. Having finished ranked 11th they will now go on to fight for Olympic qualification at the RAN Sevens.
“We’re all really focused heading into this tournament. There’s a lot of good energy in the squad right now but we know we have a job to do,” said interim head coach Henry Paul.
“We have seen some exciting attacking rugby from this group, but I think there is more that we are capable of producing. There’s a lot of experience, talent, and drive here with a couple younger guys that are an exciting addition. We’ve been working hard these past couple of weeks to get ourselves ready on every level and I think it’ll show in our performance.”
BC players and Sevens veterans Harry Jones, Nathan Hirayama, and Adam Zaruba bring experience to the roster and an added hunger for qualification, having played for the side that just missed out on the Rio Olympics in 2016.
“Obviously 2016 didn’t go the way we wanted it to,” said Harry Jones. “We’re doing everything we can to not only qualify for Tokyo 2020, but to prepare ourselves to medal at the Olympics.”
Canada will face off against Bermuda, Mexico, and Barbados on day one of competition (July 6) with playoffs and finals rounds on day two (July 7).
Roster
Phil Berna – UBC Thunderbirds (Vancouver, BC)
Cooper Coats – Halifax Tars (Halifax, NS)
Andrew Coe – Markham Irish (Toronto, ON)
Mike Fuailefau – Castaway Wanderers (Victoria, BC)
Nathan Hirayama – Unattached (Richmond, BC)
Harry Jones – Capilano RFC (North Vancouver, BC)
Isaac Kaay – UVIC Vikes (Kamloops, BC)
Pat Kay – Castaway Wanderers (Duncan, BC)
Josiah Morra – Toronto Saracens (Toronto, ON)
Matt Mullins – James Bay AA (Belleville, ON)
Jake Thiel – Abbotsford RFC (Abbotsford, BC)
Adam Zaruba – Capilano RFC (North Vancouver, BC)
