Canada look to future for Women’s Sevens

Canada Women’s Sevens coach John Tait has named a 25-strong centralized training group to prepare for the 2017-18 HSBC Sevens Series as well as the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco. The core of the group that finished 3rd overall on the 2016-17 circuit has been retained with nine members of the 2016 Olympic Bronze Medal-winning team present.

Alongside the veterans are a number of new players, including five yet to complete secondary school. Olivia Apps, Maggie Banks, Olivia de Couvreur, Maddy Grant, and Carmen Izyk will combine studies with an intensive training regime. Izyk is one of two players from the Foothills Lions club of Okotoks, Alberta, whose most famous graduate is Ospreys star Jeff Hassler. The second is another promising teenager in Keyara Wardley.

Emma Chown makes it three Barrie, Ontario, natives in the group with Kaili and Megan Lukan, and there is another sister act in Abbotsford’s Nakisa and Tausani Levale who come from strong Samoan ancestry. While there are no players from Atlantic Canada, five Quebec natives are named. Regular squad members Bianca Farella, Natasha Watcham-Roy, and Pam Buisa are joined by newcomers Olivia de Couvreur and Arielle Normandin-Leclerc.

Currently there are five tournaments scheduled for the 2017-18 HSBC Women’s Sevens Series, one less than last season. The Las Vegas stop has been removed from the women’s calendar and it remains to be seen if that will change or another will be added as a replacement.

2017-18 CANADA WOMEN’S SEVENS
Olivia Apps (Aurora Barbarians), Maggie Banks (Shawnigan Lake), Brittany Benn (Guelph Redcoats), Pam Buisa (Ottawa Irish), Emma Chown (Aurora Barbarians), Caroline Crossley (Castaway Wanderers), Hannah Darling (Peterborough Pagans), Olivia de Couvreur (Ottawa Irish), Bianca Farella (TMR), Maddy Grant (Cornwall Claymores), Julia Greenshields (Sarnia Saints), Carmen Izyk (Foothills Lions), Sara Kaljuvee (Toronto Scottish), Jen Kish (Edmonton Rockers), Ghislaine Landry (capt., Toronto Scottish), Nakisa Levale (Abbotsford), Tausani Levale (Abbotsford), Kaili Lukan (Barrie), Megan Lukan (Barrie), Kayla Moleschi (Williams Lake Rustlers), Breanne Nicholas (London St. George’s), Arielle Normandin-Leclerc (TMR), Keyara Wardley (Foothills Lions), Natasha Watcham-Roy (Hull Volant), Charity Williams (Markham Irish)

2017-18 SCHEDULE
Nov 30-Dec 1, 2017 – HSBC Sevens – Dubai, UAE
Jan 26-Jan 27, 2018 – HSBC Sevens – Sydney, Australia
Apr 13-Apr 15, 2018 – Commonwealth Games – Gold Coast, Australia
Apr 21-Apr 22, 2018 – HSBC Sevens – Kitakyushu, Japan
May 12-May 13, 2018 – HSBC Sevens – Langford, Canada
Jun 8-Jun 9, 2018 – HSBC Sevens – Paris, France
Jul 20-Jul 22, 2018 – Rugby World Cup Sevens – San Francisco, USA