Canada Roster set for the USA Sevens Series
Bernadette Larose
Rugby 7s Senior Men
Head Coach Damian McGrath has named his 13-man team that will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for the USA stop on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series from March 1-3, 2019.
Canada is coming off a seventh-place finish in Hamilton and a twelfth-place finish in Sydney and are currently sitting 11th in the overall in their Tokyo 2020 qualifying season.
Captaining the team will be veteran Nathan Hirayama who has 84 points so far in the 2019 series, leading the team in points scored. Connor Braid—who leads Canada in tries scored—and Pat Kay will add their talents to the squad as well.
An exciting addition to the line up, Harry Jones will make his highly anticipated return in Vegas. Jones has been out with a shoulder injury since the Rugby World Cup Sevens back in July of 2018. Canada will also see the return of Admir Cejvanovic to round out the roster. McGrath will be without Justin Douglas and Lucas Hammond who are both sidelined due to injury.
The USA series stops comes just a week ahead of the Canada Sevens in Vancouver. A strong performance in Vegas is crucial to earn a good pool placement for their home tournament.
Canada will be competing against one seed New Zealand, Spain, and Samoa in Pool A next week in Las Vegas.
Fans can watch every match LIVE on CBC Sports and follow Rugby Canada’s channels for updates on the tournament.
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Single day tickets for the fourth annual HSBC Canada Sevens at BC Place in Vancouver, BC on March 9-10, 2019 officially went on sale yesterday and can be purchased at https://www.canadasevens.com!
Canada Roster:
Phil Berna – UBC Thunderbirds (Vancouver, BC)
Connor Braid – James Bay AA (Victoria, BC)
Admir Cejvanovic – Burnaby Lake RFC (Burnaby, BC)
Cole Davis – Calgary Saints (Calgary, AB)
Mike Fuailefau – Castaway Wanderers (Victoria, BC)
Nathan Hirayama – Captain, Unattached (Richmond, BC)
Harry Jones – Capilano RFC (North Vancouver, BC)
Isaac Kaay – UVIC Vikes (Kamloops, BC)
Pat Kay – Castaway Wanderers (Duncan, BC)
Luke McCloskey – Castaway Wanderers (Victoria, BC)
Matt Mullins – James Bay AA (Belleville, ON)
Jake Thiel – Abbotsford RFC (Abbotsford, BC)
Adam Zaruba – Capilano RFC (North Vancouver, BC)
Unavailable due to injury:
Justin Douglas – Abbotsford RFC (Abbotsford, BC)
Lucas Hammond – Toronto Nomads (Toronto, ON)
USA Sevens Series Schedule:
March 1
Canada vs. Spain- 6:44pm ET/ 3:44pm PT
Canada vs. New Zealand- 10:07pm ET/ 7:07pm PT
March 2
Canada vs. Samoa- 3:14pm PT/ 12:14pm PT