Richmond’s Nathan Hirayama will captain Canada’s 13-player roster for the final two legs of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in London and Paris, starting next weekend (June 2-3).
The 30-year-old McRoberts graduate and Richmond Rugby Club product is the leading points scorer on the HSBC World Sevens Series this season. He will help try to get Canada back to form that resulted in a third place finish in London at last year’s event.
With injuries plaguing the team throughout the season, Canadian head coach Damian McGrath is relieved to have a full-strength squad available for the all-important final two stops on the World Series.
“Fortunately, we’re almost as close to full strength as we could be. It is the same group that finished Singapore with the only change being that Connor Braid has come back in and Tevaughn Campbell has returned to the CFL,” said McGrath.
“We’re still without Liam Underwood and Phil Berna who are long-term injuries and Jake Thiel is also unavailable due to injury,” added McGrath.
Canada currently find themselves in 11th place on the World Series standings and know that the London and Paris stops will be important to acquiring crucial World Series points, as well as much needed confidence ahead of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco at the end of July.
“I’m a bit more confident on this particular leg as the 13 players we’re taking are more or less 100 percent fit, which is a luxury we haven’t had up until now. I’m hoping that this alone will give us a positive boost,” added McGrath.
“We’re not that far away, we’ve had some great performances, but consistency has been our issue. If we can put consistent performances together I’m confident we can have a good finish in these last two legs and head into the Rugby World Cup Sevens as contenders.
Other B.C. products on the roster include Luke Bradley (Port Alberni), Connor Braid (Victoria), Admir Cejvanovic (Burnaby), Justin Douglas (Abbotsford), Mike Fuailefau (Victoria), Harry Jones (North Vancouver), Isaac Kay (Kamloops), Pat Kay (Duncan) and Luke McCloskey (Victoria).
Canada kick off pool play against Samoa on Saturday at 1:30am (PDT). Other matches are against South Africa and Russia.
