By Canadian Press

Rugby Canada names men’s sevens roster for invitational tournament in Vancouver

Feb 18, 2025 | 10:28 AM

Canada has named a 16-man rugby sevens roster for a three-team invitational tournament taking place alongside HSBC SVNS Vancouver, which runs Friday through Sunday at B.C. Place Stadium.

The Canadian men were relegated from the HSBC SVNS elite circuit last June in Madrid and are using the invitational tournament to prepare for the second-tier World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger Series.

After Vancouver, Canada’s men head to Cape Town for the opening two Challenger events before the April 11-12 final stop in Krakow, Poland.

The top four teams from the Challenger Series earn a spot in the promotion/relegation playoff competition at the HSBC SVNS World Championship May 3-4 in Carson, Calif with four berths in the 2026 HSBC SVNS season up for grabs,

The Canadian women, currently fifth in the HSBC SVNS standings, have been drawn in Pool A in Vancouver with No. 2 Australia, No. 9 Brazil and No. 12 Spain. New Zealand tops the women’s table after three events.

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Fiji, Argentina and Spain each have 48 points atop the men’s standings.

The companion invitational tournament will see the Canadian men play Trinidad and Tobago and Japan on both Friday and Saturday.

Canada’s men qualified for the Challenger Series by winning the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens in November, blanking hosts Trinidad and Tobago 38-0 in the final.

“Since returning from RAN Sevens, we’ve had a lot of players in a lot of places,” Canada coach Sean White said in a statement. “Being a decentralized training program has allowed us to encourage players not training in Langford to explore new endeavours, whether that be in the MLR (Major League Rugby) or Europe or the ability to continue their studies.

“This has also provided opportunities for us to run camps and identify new players to our sevens program … I feel there’s a good mix of size and speed, youthfulness and experience. With four games in Vancouver, we will be able to continue to work on our cohesion and fine-tune our game in front of one of the best crowds on the series.”

The men’s roster includes veterans Thomas Isherwood and Elias Hancock.

Kal Sager, back from injury, returns to the squad for the first time since last June in Madrid. The roster also includes Noah Bain, who signed a short-term contract with the New England Free Jacks earlier this month and made his MLR debut Saturday at RFC Los Angeles.

Canada Roster

Rhys James, Kelowna, B.C., Pacific Pride; James Thiel, Abbotsford, B.C., Pacific Pride; Ethan Turner, Maple Ridge, B.C., Burnaby Lake Rugby Club; Alex Russell, Bracebridge, Ont., McGill University; Noah Bain, Abbotsford, B.C., New England Free Jacks (MLR); Brenden Black, Oakville, Ont., University of Guelph; Ethan Hager, Brantford, Ont., Brantford Harlequins; Morgan Di Nardo, Toronto, University of Victoria; Jamie Armstrong, Ottawa, University of Ottawa; Kyle Tremblay, White Rock, B.C., Pacific Pride; Thomas Isherwood, Okotoks, Alta., Foothills Lions RFC; Johnny Franklin, Bowen Island, B.C., Capilano RFC; Kal Sager, Peterborough, Ont., Trent University; Elias Hancock, Ottawa, University of Ottawa; Ben Greenstein, Vancouver, Queen’s University; Michael Laplaine, Montreal, Concordia University.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press