Squad named for Gold Coast 7s

By ADAM KYRIACOU, October 5th, 2012

The 12-man group announced on Monday is an historic one for the Canucks as excitement builds for Canada's debut as a core squad on the IRB Sevens World Series.
Along with Portugal and Spain, Canada join last year's twelve core teams to take the number up to fifteen, which means they take part in all nine Series legs.
Consequently, preparations stepped up a gear over the weekend as the team attended a training camp in Shawnigan Lake, BC where John was able to add the finishing touches to his squad for the challenge ahead, with Canada drawn in the same Pool as Series holders New Zealand, South Africa, and neighbours the United States.
Also present at the camp was 15s coach Kieran Crowley as one eye also gazes to the upcoming Americas Rugby Championship, which is to be staged in Langford, BC.
Selection for the Gold Coast event was subsequently tough for John, who has named four men who did not feature in the recent North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) success. They are Justin Douglas, Lucas Hammond, Mike Fuailefau and Thyssen de Goede with Sean White, Conor Trainor, Tyler Ardron and Connor Braid all missing out due to various reasons such as ARC and school commitments. Sean Duke and Phil Mack are included alongside Chauncey O'Toole, Harry Jones, John Moonlight, Ciaran Hearn, Jeff Hassler and Nanyak Dala, who will captain the squad.
18-year-old Abbotsford-born Douglas makes his first senior squad after performing excellently for the BC Youth 7s program under former national player and coach Shane Thomson. Meanwhile, fellow teenager Hammond, who featured last season at the Dubai, South Africa and Wellington legs, is back while there is a return from injury for the experienced De Goede. Finally, Castaway Wanderers player Fuailefau has been rewarded for his good form during the recent IRB Junior World Trophy.
"There were many other players who performed well at both camps which made selection difficult," revealed John, with ex-internationals Pat Fleck and Jeff Williams having observed the recent training camp. "We have a busy schedule this October and November with not only 7s competitions taking place but also the Americas Rugby Championship and then November Tests against Samoa, Russia and NZ Maori. Therefore myself and Kieran Crowley have worked together very closely in terms of selection."
"Some of the players are involved with the upcoming Americas Rugby Championship (October 12, 16, 20) in preparation for November while others have school commitments as we are away for over eight weeks in the next three months. Therefore some players cannot take all that time off so priorities have to be made, which we understand is a reality here in Canada due to our players being of amateur status."
Canada enters the World Series on the back of a triumphant NACRA final win over the USA, with Duke having scored the match-winning try in an event that saw John's side take on the likes of Bermuda, Mexico, Bahamas and Barbados. October 13-14 sees them tackle two of the 7s game's powerhouses along with USA in the pools.
"Yes, we will face the number one side in the world and also South Africa, who have both won many competitions and are excellently coached," continued coach John.
"However this is what everyone works hard for - to play against the best teams in the world and it's why we enter these competitions. USA are also a very difficult team with great athletes under the guidance of their new coach Alex Magleby. There's no easy games in the Series - take Spain for example who now have twelve full-time contracted players. They qualified with us in becoming a core team and you have the other new core side, Portugal, who won the European World Cup qualifier."
A testing challenge indeed but one that Canada's coach and youthful squad are embracing with an air of excitement and hunger as a new era of 7s fast approaches.
"This is the start of everyone's goal to get to Rio and we are no different to any other team. We want to get there and have to make sure we are prepared. Having three guys under the age of 20 in our squad shows also what we are doing - we need to keep developing these excellent young players we have in this country," concluded John.

Canada's Roster for Gold Coast Sevens (club followed by hometown):
1 Mike Fuailefau (Castaway Wanderers RFC) - (Victoria, BC)
2 Thyssen de Goede (James Bay Athletic Association) - (Courtenay, BC)
3 Nanyak Dala (Castaway Wanderers RFC) - (Saskatoon, SK) - CAPTAIN
4 John Moonlight (James Bay Athletic Association) - (Pickering, ON)
5 Justin Douglas (Abbotsford RFC) - (Abbotsford, BC)
6 Sean Duke (University of Victoria) - (Vancouver, BC)
7 Phil Mack (University of Victoria) - (Victoria, BC)
8 Jeff Hassler (James Bay Athletic Association) - (Okotoks, AB)
9 Harry Jones (Capilano RFC) - (North Vancouver, BC)
10 Ciaran Hearn (Castaway Wanderers RFC) - (Conception Bay South, NL)
11 Lucas Hammond (Toronto Nomads) - (Toronto, ON)
12 Chauncey O’Toole (Belle Isle RFC) - (Belle Isle, NB)

Coach - Geraint John
Manager - Brian Hunter
Strength & Recovery - Matt Barr
Physio - Isabel Grondin