Canada’s Senior Women’s and Men’s Sevens rosters for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa have been named by Head Coaches Jack Hanratty and Henry Paul.
Taking place from September 9-11 at the iconic Cape Town Stadium, the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 will be the eighth iteration of the event which was first hosted in 1993 for the Men and 2009 for the Women.
There is plenty of BC representation heading to South Africa: Abbotsford’s Nakisa Levale (Abbotsford RFC) is included in the squad, while UBC (Florence Symonds, Piper Logan), University of Victoria (Krissy Scurfield) and Westshore RFC (Fancy Bermudez) all have representation in the roster.
The Men’s team sees six BC athletes included: Victoria trio Anton Ngongo (Castaway Wanderers), Lachlan Kratz (Castaway Wanderers), and Ciaran Breen (Cowichan RFC) are joined by Jake Thiel (Abbotsford RFC), Phil Berna (Vancouver Rowing Club), and Vancouver’s Elias Ergas (UBC). Castaway Wanderers has further representation in Josiah Morra, while Pacific Pride duo Matthew Oworu and D’Shawn Bowen are also included.
Canada Women’s Sevens Rugby World Cup Roster
- Florence Symonds (Hong Kong) – University of British Columbia
- Krissy Scurfield (Canmore, AB) – University of Victoria
- Pamphinette Buisa (Gatineau, QC) – Ottawa Irish
- Breanne Nicholas (Blenheim, ON) – Not Affiliated
- Nakisa Levale (Abbotsford, BC) – Abbotsford RFC
- Emma Chown (Barrie, ON) – Aurora Barbarians & Queen’s University
- Chloe Daniels (Sutton, ON) – Aurora Barbarians
- Bianca Farella (Montreal, QC) – Town of Mount Royal RFC
- Olivia Apps (Lindsay, ON) – Lindsay RFC
- Fancy Bermudez (Edmonton, AB) – Nor’wester Athletic Association/Westshore RFC
- Piper Logan (Calgary, AB) – Calgary Hornets/UBC Thunderbirds
- Keyara Wardley (Vulcan, AB) – Not Affiliated
- Olivia De Couvreur (Ottawa, ON) – Ottawa Irish* (Travelling reserve)
Canada’s Women’s Sevens roster sees Alberta’s Piper Logan retain her place having enjoyed an eye-opening debut at the Commonwealth Games in July. Her performances in Birmingham earned her a spot in the World Rugby Sevens Women’s Dream Team. Breanne Nicholas and Olivia Apps will co-captain the side.
“We are all really looking forward to touching down in South Africa for the Rugby World Cup Sevens. We have two pinnacles of Rugby Sevens and the World Cup is one of them. We cannot wait to test ourselves against the very best teams in the world on the biggest of stages.” Canada Women’s Sevens Head Coach Jack Hanratty
Canada Men’s Sevens Rugby World Cup Roster
- Anton Ngongo (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers
- Jake Thiel (Victoria, BC) – Abbotsford RFC
- Thomas Isherwood (Okotoks, AB) – Foothills Lions RFC
- Phil Berna (Vancouver, BC) – Vancouver Rowing Club
- Alex Russell (Chichester, ENG) – McGill University
- Josiah Morra (Toronto, ON) – Castaway Wanderers / Toronto Saracens
- Brock Webster (Uxbridge, ON) – Oshawa Vikings RFC
- Matthew Oworu (Calgary, AB) – Pacific Pride
- D’Shawn Bowen (Toronto, ON) – Pacific Pride
- Lachlan Kratz (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers / NOLA Gold
- Elias Ergas (Vancouver, BC) – University of British Columbia
- Ciaran Breen (Victoria, BC) – Cowichan RFC
The Men’s team sees just one change from the roster which went to last weekend’s HSBC LA Sevens in California. Matthew Oworu, who has recovered from the minor injury which kept him out of the last World Series event of the season, replaces Cooper Coats, who picked up a knock in LA. Phil Berna will captain the Men’s team.
“There’s no greater honor than representing your country at a World Cup. All of the players are eager to get the action underway in South Africa. This is a real opportunity for us to end the season on a high note and make some waves in the biggest and most important event of the year.” Canada Men’s Sevens Head Coach Henry Paul
Schedule/Where to Watch
For more information on the Rugby World Cup Sevens, visit the tournament’s official website rwcsevens.com. There, you will find the details regarding the event format, schedule and the latest news.
Broadcast coverage of the Rugby World Cup Sevens will be available in Canada via CBC. All events are available to live stream via cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app and the free CBC Gem streaming service.