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Canada has named the Men’s and Women’s Sevens sides to compete at the World Series events in Vancouver and Edmonton. Both teams have a youthful feel with only a small number of Olympic representatives included.
Phil Berna, Andrew Coe, and Jake Thiel are the only Olympians named by Men’s Head Coach Henry Paul. Nathan Hirayama and Conor Trainor have confirmed their retirements in recent days while a number of other veterans will sit out the truncated 2021 Series to prepare for the 2022 campaign.
Josiah Morra also has Sevens Series experience while the majority of the rest have represented Canada at age grade level. Alex Russell is named after making a late-season appearance for the Toronto Arrows in Major League Rugby, while Ciaran Breen has signed an academy deal with French club Carcassonne.
CANADA MEN’S SEVENS
Nick Allen, Phil Berna, Ciaran Breen, Jack Carson, Andrew Coe, Elias Ergas, Josiah Morra, Anton Ngongo, Matt Oworu, Matthew Percillier, Brennig Prevost, Alex Russell, Jake Thiel
There are just two members of the Olympic team on the Women’s roster, Olivia Apps and Breanne Nicholas. As with the Men’s side, several players will sit out the tournaments to prepare for Dubai. A new coaching staff is also in place in former national captain Kelly Russell, who will be assisted by Women’s u20 Head Coach Jack Hanratty.
Emma Chown has previous experience on the circuit while there are two players who lined up with European clubs this past season. Sabrina Poulin featured for Stade Rennais in France while Alysha Corrigan recently re-signed with Saracens in the UK.
CANADA WOMEN’S SEVENS
Olivia Apps, Fancy Bermudez-Chavez, Emma Chown, Alysha Corrigan, Chloe Daniels, Olivia de Couvreur, Renee Gonzalez, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Breanne Nicholas, Arielle Normandin-Leclerc, Ella O’Regan, Temi Ogunjimi, Sabrina Poulin
