Canada roster set for Dubai and Cape Town
Bryan Kelly
Rugby 7s Senior Men
LANGFORD, BC (November 22, 2018) – Head Coach Damian McGrath has named his 13-player roster that will travel to Dubai and Cape Town for the opening legs of the 2018-19 HSBC World Rugby Seven’s Series.
Captaining the squad will be Nathan Hirayama, who led all points scorers in 2017-18 with 334 throughout the 10 stop series. Justin Douglas, who last season won the DHL Performance Tracker with 386 points and finished tied for 6thin most tries scored with 35, is also set to return to McGrath’s lineup to start the season. Vancouver’s Adam Zaruba returns from a two-year NFL contract with the Philadelphia Eagles to bolster Canada’s lineup.
Canada finished last season in an impressive 9thplace and, with all eyes on qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, will look to continue their exciting form leading into a crucially important year. Stopping first in Dubai, they will face England, Australia, and Japan to open the season in pool D.
A competitive pool for Canada, England is coming off of a 2ndplace finish in the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens and Australia finished last year 4thin the world.
Canada will then head to Cape Town, South Africa for the second stop of the series, December 8-9thto close out 2018.
Fans in Canada can watch every minute of the world series live on www.cbcsports.ca!
Canada Roster for Dubai and Cape Town:
1. Connor Braid – James Bay AA (Victoria, BC)
2. Admir Cejvanovic – Burnaby Lake RFC (Burnaby, BC)
3. Andrew Coe – Markham Irish (Toronto, ON)
4. Justin Douglas – Abbotsford RFC (Abbotsford, BC)
5. Lucas Hammond– Toronto Nomads (Toronto, ON)
6. Nathan Hirayama “C” – Unattached (Richmond, BC)
7. Isaac Kaay – UVIC Vikes (Kamloops, BC)
8. Patrick Kay – Castaway Wanderers (Duncan, BC)
9. Luke McCloskey – Castaway Wanderers (Victoria, BC)
10. Josiah Morra – Toronto Saracens (Toronto, ON)
11. Matt Mullins – Queen’s University (Belleville, ON)
12. Jake Thiel – Abbotsford RFC (Abbotsford, BC)
13. Adam Zaruba – Capilano RFC (North Vancouver, BC)
Non-Travelling Reserves:
Cooper Coats
Cole Davis
Dubai schedule day one:
England vs Canada
11:14am local time (2:14am ET November 30/11:14pm PT November 29)
Australia vs Canada
3:20pm local time (6:20am ET/ 3:20am PT November 30)
Canada vs Japan
8:15pm local time (11:37am ET/ 8:37am PT November 30)