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Adam Zaruba will return to the international stage this weekend as part of the Canada Men’s Sevens. The giant winger missed the entirety of the 2017-18 season after pursuing an NFL contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. He has now opted to help Canada vie for a spot in the 2020 Olympics.
The 2018-19 HSBC Sevens Series starts in Dubai this weekend with this year’s circuit doubling as an Olympic qualifier. Only the top four teams will secure automatic entry to Tokyo, the other eight teams coming from regional qualifiers and a last-chance repechage tournament.
Canada slipped to 9th overall in 2017-18, down one spot from the previous season, but remain in a good position to push for a first ever spot at the Olympic Games. Their 2018-19 season begins in Dubai where they have been drawn in Pool D along with England, Australia, and Japan.
Preparations for the season have been severely disrupted by a drawn-out standoff with Rugby Canada following the national sporting body’s decision to make drastic salary cuts and merge training with the centralized XVs program. The two sides remain at odds but the impasse has been at least temporarily lifted with the team returning to training earlier this month.
Head coach Damian McGrath will also have to deal with injuries to three key players. Incumbent skipper Harry Jones and fellow forwards Mike Fuailefau and Phil Berna are all sidelined until 2019. The return of Zaruba softens the blow somewhat while record points-scorer Nathan Hirayama assumes the captaincy.
Five new players have joined the training squad this season but will not travel to Dubai. Teenage trio David Richard, Brock Webster, and Quinn Ngawati are joined by Nova Scotia and Atlantic Rock flyhalf Cooper Coats and former Brumbies Academy winger Cole Davis.
Davis has already been capped by Canada at XVs while Coats joins after impressing with the Ontario Arrows. Webster was called up for the Americas Pacific Challenge while Ngawati has made a high profile return from rugby league after being contracted by the Toronto Wolfpack last season.
The Dubai tournament kicks off on Friday local time, late Thursday evening Canada time. All matches will be streamed live on the CBC Sports website.
CANADA MEN’S SEVENS
Connor Braid, Admir Cejvanovic, Andrew Coe, Justin Douglas, Lucas Hammond, Nathan Hirayama (capt.), Isaac Kaay, Pat Kay, Luke McCloskey, Josiah Morra, Matt Mullins, Jake Thiel, Adam Zaruba
POOL FIXTURES
Fri, Nov 30 – 11:14 local / 23:14 PT (Thu) / 02:14 ET – vs England
Fri, Nov 30 – 15:20 local / 03:20 PT / 06:20 ET – vs Australia
Fri, Nov 30 – 20:15 local / 08:15 PT / 11:15 ET – vs Japan
