Looking to repeat in Vegas
Darling, Canadian women look for second straight win in rugby sevens World Series this weekend
Coach John Tait has made two changes to his roster as Warsaw’s Hannah Darling and the Canadian women’s rugby sevens team look to make it two tournament wins in a row this week in Las Vegas.
Caroline Crossley and Sara Kaljuvee come in for Ashley Steacy and Julia Greenshields, who helped Canada lift the trophy last time out in Sydney, where Darling was a starter.
Steacy is unavailable for the Las Vegas Sevens because of her sister’s wedding. Tait said prior to the Sydney stop that Crossley was unlucky not to make the 12-woman roster.
“Caroline has been consistently good in the practice and scrimmages so I’m looking forward to watching her compete in Vegas,” Tait said in a statement.
Greenshields will be in Vegas as part of the Maple Leafs development team playing in a companion invitational sevens tournament.
Canada stands third in the World Series standings, two points behind Australia and four back of New Zealand. Vegas is the third stop on the six-event circuit.
The Canadian women are in a pool with No. 5 Russia, No. 7 France and Argentina, which is making its season debut on the circuit. Play starts Friday and wraps up Saturday.
Canada is looking to win back-to-back series events and two events in the same season for the first time.
“We always believe in our ability to contest for the cup in every tournament and that is the goal for Las Vegas,” said Tait. “Although we won in Sydney the team identified areas we can improve on and know we will have to be better again to get another result.”
Canada has a 10-4-1 career record against Russia, although the teams have split their two meetings this season, and is 10-2-0 all-time against France.
The Canadian women have not played Argentina since a decisive 31-0 win in January 2013.
“Russia are dangerous, they can Darling score from anywhere and are likely the fastest and one of the most physical teams in the series,” said Tait. “France try and wear opponents down with ball movement and possession. Argentina will be a little unknown but we will treat them no different and will be aggressive on defence and create some turnovers into scores early on to keep them under pressure.”
Counting the final stop of the 2015-16 season, the Canadian women have won three of the last four events.
Canada’s rosters Vegas event:
Canada
for the Las
Britt Benn, Guelph Redcoats, Napanee, Ont.; Caroline Crossley, Castaway Wanderers, Victoria; Hannah Darling, Peterborough Pagans, Warsaw, Ont.; Bianca Farella, Town of Mont Royal, Montreal; Sara Kaljuvee, Toronto Scottish, Ajax, Ont.; Jen Kish, Edmonton Rockers, Edmonton; Ghislaine Landry (capt.), Toronto Scottish, Toronto; Megan Lukan, unattached, Barrie, Ont.; Kayla Moleschi, Williams Lake Rustlers, Williams Lake, B.C.; Breanne Nicholas, London St. Georges, Blenheim, Ont.; Natasha Watcham-Roy, Hull Volant, Gatineau, Que.; Charity Williams, Markham Irish, Toronto.
Maple Leafs Roster
Olivia Apps, Aurora Barbarians, Lindsay, Ont.; Margaret Banks, Shawnigan Lake, Coquitlam, B.C.; Pamphinette Buisa, Ottawa Irish, Gatineau, Que.; Emma Chown, Kingston Panthers, Barrie, Ont.; Ashley Gordon, Brampton Beavers, Brampton, Ont.; Julia Greenshields, Sarnia Saints, Sarnia, Ont.; Nakisa Levale, Abbotsford Griffins, Abbotsford, B.C.; Kaili Lukan, unattached, Barrie, Ont.; Irene Patrinos, Ottawa Irish, Mississauga, Ont.; Erika Scott, Ormstown Saracens, Dewittville, Que.; Keyara Wardley, Okotoks Lions, Vulcan, Alta.
Peterborough’s of the Westshore RFC was named Tuesday by Canada’s senior women’s rugby head coach Francois Ratier to the 38-player long list squad for a Can-Am Series with the USA next month. Canada will face the USA on March 28 and April 1 in a two-game series in San Diego. The team will gather for a training camp March 19 to 25 at Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island. It kicks off what is going to be a busy year for Canada’s senior women in the leadin to the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland in August. Canada is currently ranked third in the World Rugby rankings and will face New Zealand, Wales and Hong Kong in the pool stages of the tournament.