CANADA’S MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SEVENS TEAMS DEPART TO DUBAI FOR TWO OLYMPIC PREPARATION EVENTS

March 23, 2021 (Langford, BC) – After over a year without competition, Rugby Canada’s senior sevens programs will depart for Dubai this week to participate in two Olympic preparation tournaments.  The Emirates Invitational 7s will be, a competitive training camp including two tournament weekends for a number of the best rugby sevens teams in the world.  Though not part of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the Emirates Invitational 7s is a high-performance preparation event in advance of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.  The tournaments will be played over back-to-back weekends April 2-3 and April 8-9 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai. 

This will be the first competition for both teams since the global COVID-19 pandemic halted play on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series over a year ago.  For Canada’s women, their last competition on the Series was a silver medal finish at the Sydney 7s in February 2020.  For the men, their last competition was a bronze medal finish at HSBC Canada Sevens in Vancouver last March.  The Vancouver tournament was the final stop played on the sevens series before the 2020 season was concluded due to the pandemic.

Both teams are travelling with an extended squad of players.  The Dubai tournaments will be an opportunity for all players to get valuable live match play after several months of training under strict COVID protocols in Langford.  Full travelling rosters are listed below.

Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team:

·       Delaney Aikens

·       Elissa Alarie

·       Olivia Apps

·       Brittany Benn

·       Pamphinette Buisa 

·       Emma Chown

·       Caroline Crossley 

·       Bianca Farella 

·       Julia Greenshields

·       Asia Hogan-Rochester

·       Sara Kaljuvee

·       Ghislaine Landry 

·       Kaili Lukan

·       Kayla Moleschi 

·       Breanne Nicholas

·       Karen Paquin 

·       Florence Symonds

·       Keyara Wardley

·       Charity Williams 

Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team:

·       Phil Berna

·       Connor Braid

·       Cooper Coats

·       Andrew Coe

·       Justin Douglas

·       Lucas Hammond

·       Nathan Hirayama 

·       Harry Jones

·       Patrick Kay

·       Josiah Morra

·       Matt Mullins

·       Brennig Prevost

·       Alexander Russell

·       Theo Sauder

·       Jake Thiel

·       Connor Trainer

·       Brock Webster

For more information on the Emirates Invitational 7s, click HERE 

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About Rugby Canada:

Rugby Canada is the national governing body of the sport of Rugby Union in Canada. They administer and operate Men’s and Women’s Senior and Junior National programs in both rugby XV’s and 7s, as well as govern the Club and community game for more than 30,000 registered participants from coast to coast in conjunction with ten Provincial Union members.

Rugby Canada is headquartered at the Al Charron National Training Centre in Langford, BC, with staff also working from Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa. Rugby Canada business operations, programs and events are delivered nationwide, including the internationally recognized HSBC Canada Sevens annual tournaments.

For more information, please contact: media@rugby.ca.