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Young Canadian rugby team looks to find consistency at Canada Sevens tournament

VANCOUVER – Inconsistency has tripped up the younger Canadian males’s rugby sevens squad in the course of the first half of the season, however head coach Henry Paul is assured his crew can discover its legs throughout this weekend’s HSBC Canada Sevens rugby event.

“Now we have to cease doing the self-harm issues,” Paul mentioned after a follow at BC Place Stadium. “A few of our fundamentals within the sevens recreation is letting us down. It’s much less what different groups are doing. We’ve received to repair what we need to do.“

Co-captains Nate Hirayama and Harry Jones, alongside Justin Douglas and Connor Braid, are among the many 10 veterans who retired from the sevens crew that completed eighth on the Tokyo Olympics.

Established gamers like captain Phil Berna and Jake Theil stay, however this 12 months’s crew has been stocked with younger faces like Brenning Prevost of Victoria, Elias Ergas of Vancouver and Calgary’s Matthew Oworu.

“It’s been a rebuilding 12 months,” mentioned Theil. “Any time when you will have the total crew switching over it’s going to be a little bit of a tricky adjustment.

“It’s tough, it’s had its ups and downs. Every event we form of construct on. Hopefully that is the place we’re going to hit our peak. We’re going to be actually good in 12 months or two. We simply want time to develop.”

The Canadian males have 24 factors in 5 tournaments this 12 months, leaving them tied for thirteenth place with Wales among the many 19 groups competing within the World Rugby Sevens Collection.

Canada’s finest end result was shedding within the quarterfinals of the event in Malaga, Spain. Within the following two tournaments in Seville and final week in Singapore, Canada received simply considered one of 11 video games.

Paul mentioned the crew has confirmed flashes of its potential.

“Endeavour and energy I can’t fault,” mentioned the native of Tokora, New Zealand, who performed internationally for each New Zealand and England. “We’ve been in most video games with a rating or much less to go together with time simply expiring and we simply do one thing a little bit bit foolish, a little bit bit dumb.

“We’re attempting to study from these moments.”

Berna mentioned expertise will remove among the errors.

“That comes with having a younger crew,” he mentioned. “We’ve been on this place earlier than.

“Consistency has all the time been one thing we’ve been striving for. We’re a bit tough across the edges however (there’s been) a number of constructive moments.”

One other constructive step for the crew is former Canadian worldwide Sean White being named an assistant coach.

“We haven’t executed a very good job of rising Canadian coaches and Canadian rugby is powerful,” mentioned Thiel, who missed the Singapore event is a leg damage. “We have to begin rising the coaches together with the gamers.

“The factor Sean brings is he’s been round and he is aware of these younger gamers. Sean will again anyone and he desires to provide these children a shot.”

The event, being held Saturday and Sunday at BC Place, will see 16 groups in motion together with South Africa, which leads the standings with 98 factors after successful the primary 4 tournaments.

Australia and Argentina, tied for second with 83 factors; the U.S. and Olympic gold medallists Fiji will even compete.

The groups are divided into 4 swimming pools. Canada is slotted right into a difficult group that features South Africa, Australia and Spain, at present ranked ninth within the standings.

Paul mentioned his crew received’t be intimidated.

“We need to be making the quarterfinals,” he mentioned. “It’s going to be tough. We’re underneath no illusions . . . however I feel we’re as much as the problem.”

Because of the pandemic, the 2021 males’s season was lowered to 2 occasions — in Vancouver and Edmonton in September — with a number of high groups unable to compete as a result of COVID-19-related journey restrictions.

South Africa received each tournaments, with Canada ending sixth and fourth.

Of the 13 gamers chosen to this weekend’s roster, 9 have been both born in B.C. or play rugby on the West Coast.

Berna mentioned taking part in in Vancouver, in entrance of family and friends, will likely be a bonus.

“It’s all the time a event that gives the boys a number of vitality,” he mentioned. “We simply hope all of it clicks this weekend. With the followers behind us, I’m optimistic that it’ll.”

The event comes not lengthy after an impartial evaluation into Rugby Canada’s high-performance packages painted a damning image of a dysfunctional group at odds with its athletes, employees and supporters.

Thiel mentioned the report is an opportunity for Rugby Canada to maneuver ahead.

“Somebody wants to steer the pack,” he mentioned. “This new era of participant has accepted that function. It’s by no means simple to face up and demand change, however that’s what now we have executed.

“We’ve let our voices be heard and try have an effect on constructive change, which I feel is coming.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed April 15, 2022.



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