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Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back and special teams player Tevaughn Campbell will accompany the Canadian Men’s Sevens team to Hong Kong this week for a close-up glimpse at what it takes to compete on the HSBC Sevens Series. This past season was the second in the Canadian Football League for the 23-year-old after being selected in the third round of the 2015 draft by the Calgary Stampeders. Campbell has been training with former Canadian international sevens player Robin MacDowell leading to his invitation from head coach Damian McGrath.
Despite having no prior rugby experience Campbell is an interesting prospect given his impressive athletic resume. Explosive speed is evident in his 6.67 60-metre run that earned him a Gold Medal at the USports National Championships in 2016. He also holds the CFL Combine record in the 40-yard dash under electronic timing, coming in at 4.35 seconds, a mark comparable to that of USA’s own football convert Perry Baker. The blazing-fast Carlin Isles tops them both at a best of 4.22 seconds over 40 yards.
McGrath is not intending to use Campbell in any of the games though he will train with the team and has been listed as the ’14th man’ for the Asian leg that starts in Hong Kong and finishes in Singapore next weekend. Up to 13 players can be named by each country per tournament, with the ’13th man’ only eligible to take part in the case of injury.
