Sevens pair return to rugby’s heart

Rugby Sevens can be seen as the trendy variation that has upended the established order. (Don’t look now, but three-on-three basketball will make its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020). Yet it’s the traditional XVs that is still considered the beating heart of rugby.

Karen Paquin and Kelly Russell have gone back to the latter after winning a bronze medal with the Langford-based Canadian women’s sevens at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

No. 8 Russell is set to captain No. 3-ranked Canada, in her 50th Test match, with Paquin to start at open-side flanker, today against No. 10-ranked Wales (9 a.m. PT, TSN) in the 2017 World Cup being played in Ireland.

“XVs has brought back for me the true value of rugby . . . which is club and community,” Paquin said.

Having to relocate the past several years to the Rugby Canada Centre of Excellence national team’s base on the Island, the Quebec native has found her club and community environment at Windsor Park in Oak Bay with the Castaway Wanderers.

Toronto’s Russell, meanwhile, plays for Cowichan RFC.

It may seem counterintuitive, but Paquin and Russell have noted the speed of decision-making in XVs takes some getting used to again after the acres of empty field space players get to exploit in sevens.

“Contact comes so quickly in XVs and you have to make decisions on the ball so much faster,” Paquin said.

Joining Paquin on the World Cup Canadian team from the Castaway Wanderers are Brittany Waters, Julianne Zussman and Olivia DeMerchant. Joining Kelly Russell at the World Cup from Cowichan RFC are her sister Laura Russell and Tyson Beukeboom. The Westshore RFC (former Velox) juggernaut, which has won the B.C. championship four of the past five years, is well represented with Barbara Mervin, Emily Belchos, Elissa Alarie, Latoya Blackwood, Chelsey Minter and Brianna Miller.

Canada began the World Cup with a 98-0 blowout of No. 23ranked Hong Kong.

Canada concludes pool play Thursday at 4 a.m. PT against topranked New Zealand. The semifinals are Aug. 22 at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. PT and the championship game Aug. 26 at 11:30 a.m. PT. All Canadian games are broadcast on TSN.

There are 10 players making their World Cup debuts on a Canadian squad that features 18 returnees from the silvermedallist 2014 World Cup squad. Four players are appearing in their third World Cup.