By Canadian Press

Canadian men start climb back up rugby sevens ladder later this month at RAN Sevens

Nov 15, 2024 | 1:37 PM

Canada looks to take the first step back up the rugby sevens ladder when it competes in the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens later this month.

The Canadian men were relegated from the elite HSBC SVNS circuit in an eight-team playoff in Madrid in early June after finishing last in the 12-country overall standings. Canada, which finished eighth at the Tokyo Olympics, had been a core team on the top sevens circuit since 2012-13 and lifted the trophy in Singapore in 2017.

The Nov. 22-24 tournament in Arima, Trinidad, serves as the regional qualification event for the HSBC Sevens Challenger Series, the second-tier world sevens circuit. Canada will be competing against Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, and host Trinidad and Tobago

The RAN Sevens winner will join the Challenger Series in 2025. The top four teams from the Challenger Series will earn a spot in the promotion/relegation playoff at the HSBC SVNS World Championship, scheduled for May 3-4 in Carson, Calif., with four HSBC SVNS 2026 berths up for grabs.

The Madrid promotion/relegation playoff featured the bottom four HSBC SVNS sides — the ninth-place U.S., No. 10 Spain, No. 11 Samoa and No. 12 Canada — and Uruguay, Kenya, Chile and Germany, the top four teams from the Challenger Series.

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Canada lost 22-14 to Spain with relegation on the line. It was a 29th straight defeat for the Canadian men, who finished with a dismal 3-36-0 record on the season.

The other relegation deciders saw the U.S. defeat Samoa 40-19 to preserve their core status and Kenya and Uruguay secure promotion with wins over Germany and Chile respectively.

The 13-man roster for the RAN Sevens includes six players who were part of the relegation playoff roster in Madrid:, Cooper Coats, Elias Hancock, Thomas Isherwood, Josiah Morra, Matt Oworu, and David Richard.

Coats, Morra and Oworu will join the sevens side from the 22nd-ranked Canadian 15s team, which plays No. 20 Romania in Bucharest on Saturday. All three recently signed with Major League Rugby teams — Coats with NOLA Gold, Morra with the defending champion New England Free Jacks and Oworu with the Chicago Hounds.

Speedster D’Shawn Bowen returns to the sevens team for the first time since the Sydney Sevens in January 2023 while Noah Bain was last with the team at the Spain Sevens in 2022.

There are three new players — Jack Shaw (RFC LA) and Kyle Tremblay, and Johnny Franklin from the Pacific Pride development academy.

The Canadian men are scheduled to play in an invitational men’s sevens tournament taking place at B.C. Place Stadium alongside the HSBC SVNS Vancouver stop in February.

Canada Roster

Alex Russell, Bracebridge, Ont., McGill University; Josiah Morra, Toronto, New England Free Jacks (MLR); Cooper Coats, Halifax, NOLA Gold (MLR); Noah Bain, Abbotsford, B.C., UBCOB Ravens; David Richard, Milton, Ont., Mississauga Blues RFC; D’Shawn Bowen, Toronto, James Bay AA; Ethan Hager, Brantford, Ont., Brantford Harlequins; Matt Oworu, Calgary, Chicago Hounds (MLR); Kyle Tremblay, White Rock, B.C., UBC Okanagan; Thomas Isherwood, Okotoks, Alta., Foothills Lions RFC; Johnny Franklin, Bowen Island, B.C., Capilano RFC; Jack Shaw, Oakville, Ont., RFC LA (MLR); Elias Hancock, Ottawa, University of Ottawa.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press