Phil Berna will captain Canada at the upcoming World Sevens Series tournaments in Spain. The experienced forward has recovered from injury that kept him out of the Dubai Sevens tournaments. He leads a team that shows seven changes from their last outing in December.
Andrew Coe has departed for Rugby New York in Major League Rugby while injury has ruled out Brennig Prevost, Jarvis Dashkewytch, Brock Webster, and Lockie Kratz. The latter is also signed to MLR club NOLA Gold. Others listed as unavailable include Pat Kay, David Richard, Isaac Olson, and uncapped duo Lucas Scheck and Gio Douyon. Cody Nhanala and D’Shawn Bowen return to the Pacific Pride.
Two players will make their World Series debuts for Canada, Pride centre Sion Griffiths and UVic winger Noah Bain. Anton Ngongo, Matthew Oworu, and Alex Russell return having played in Vancouver and Edmonton this past fall, and vice-captain Jake Thiel joins Berna in returning from injury after missing the second weekend in Dubai.
Canada’s Men will compete in Pool D in Malaga to start this weekend, with France, Kenya, and Wales their opponents on Day One. The tournament will be broadcast live on the CBC Sports Website. A revised schedule can be seen here.
CANADA MEN’S SEVENS
Nick Allen, Noah Bain, Phil Berna (capt.), Cooper Coats, Elias Ergas, Sion Griffiths, Thomas Isherwood, Josiah Morra, Anton Ngongo, Matthew Oworu, Alex Russell, Theo Sauder, Jake Thiel