OTTAWA – (2022 – 07 – 12) – Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) and Rugby Canada today announced the athletes who will represent Team Canada in Rugby Sevens at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England taking place July 28 to August 8, 2022.

26 athletes from two teams – one Women’s and one Men’s – make up this year’s Commonwealth Rugby Sevens Canadian representatives.

“It’s an honour for each and every one of the team to represent their country at the Commonwealth Games,” said Canada’s Women’s Head Coach Jack Hanratty. “We go there with a real hunger to make it into the medal rounds. This new, young squad want to show they have what it takes to perform. We’re delighted to be able to welcome Piper [Logan] into the group for her first callup and it shows the strength of our depth chart that we continue to hand out debuts at this time of year following the conclusion of the HSBC Sevens Series.”

“Heading into the Commonwealth Games, we are delighted with the timely return of Josiah [Morra] back into the roster following injury,” said Canada’s Men’s Sevens Head Coach Henry Paul. “This competition provides the team with an opportunity to represent their country at one of the most renowned major games in the world. The competition is fierce with both the Olympic Gold (Fiji) and Silver (New Zealand) medalists in action and with both countries currently playing at the highest level. We’re heading to the UK excited and also determined to make our mark on the tournament, with the quality of opposition it will take the maximum concentration and efforts of all our squad to do this.”

Team Canada leadership are eager to see Canada’s best rugby player play for it all on the rugby pitch. 

“Rugby 7s has been played at every Commonwealth Games since Kuala Lumpur 1998, but the women’s event played for the first time at Gold Coast 2018,” says Scott Stevenson, Executive Director, Team Canada 2022. “Knowing the caliber of both the women’s and men’s teams, we can’t wait to see Canada take on the strongest teams in the Commonwealth and fight for medals.” 

The Women’s team sees Piper Logan of Calgary, AB receive her first international call up, while Chloe Daniels returns to the roster after missing both the Langford and France Sevens. Having represented Canada’s Senior Women’s 15s at the Pacific Four Series in New Zealand last month, crossover athletes Pamphinette Buisa and Renee Gonzalez return to Sevens action. Breanne Nicholas and Olivia Apps will co-captain the side.

The Men’s roster includes three crossover athletes – Cooper Coats, Brock Webster and Matthew Oworu – who all started in Canada’s Men’s 15s international test match against Spain in Ottawa last weekend. Ciaran Breen is named on the roster for the first time this year having rejoined the team’s training environment in May following his stint playing professionally in France, while Josiah Morra returns to the side after recovering from injury. Phil Berna will captain the Men’s team.

The Rugby Sevens competition will take place at Coventry Stadium from Friday July 29 to Sunday July 31.

Birmingham 2022 will feature 19 sports and 8 para-sports as part of its program with up to 4,500 athletes taking part. The Commonwealth Games are the only multi-sport event that feature equal standing for sport and para-sport events, and these 2022 Games will showcase the largest para-sport program ever. In addition, for the first time in its history, the Games will feature more medal events for women (135) than men (133).

Canada’s Women’s Sevens team which will represent Canada at the Birmingham 2022 includes:

Athletes:

Jersey #	First	Last	Hometown	Club
1	Olivia	De Couvreur	Ottawa, ON	Ottawa Irish
2	Renee	Gonzalez	Toronto, ON	University of Victoria
3	Pamphinette	Buisa	Gatineau, QC	Ottawa Irish / University of Victoria
4	Breanne	Nicholas	Blenheim, ON	London St. Georges
5	Nakisa	Levale	Abbotsford, BC	Abbotsford RFC
6	Emma	Chown	Barrie, ON	Aurora Barbarians / Queens University
7	Chloe	Daniels	Sutton, ON	RC Maple Leafs / Queens University
8	Bianca	Farella	Montreal, QC	Town of Mount Royal RFC
9	Olivia	Apps	Lindsay, ON	Lindsay RFC
10	Fancy	Bermudez	Edmonton, AB	Nor’wester Athletic Association / Westshore RFC
11	Piper	Logan	Calgary, AB	Calgary Hornets/UBC Thunderbirds
12	Keyara	Wardley	Vulcan, AB	Okotoks Lions
13	Krissy	Scurfield	Canmore, AB	University of Victoria

Canada’s Men’s Sevens team which will represent Canada at the Birmingham 2022 includes:

Athletes:

Jersey #	First	Last	Hometown	Club
1	Anton	Ngongo	Victoria, BC	Castaway Wanderers
2	Jake	Thiel	Abbotsford, BC	Abbotsford RFC
3	Nick	Allen	North Vancouver, BC	University of British Columbia
4	Phil	Berna	Vancouver, BC	Vancouver Rowing Club
5	Alex	Russell	Chichester, ENG	McGill University
6	Josiah	Morra	Toronto, ON	Castaway Wanderers / Toronto Saracens
7	Brock	Webster	Uxbridge, ON	Oshawa Vikings RFC
8	Cooper	Coats	Halifax, NS	Halifax Tars
9	D’Shawn	Bowen	Toronto, ON	Pacific Pride
10	Lachlan	Kratz	Victoria, BC	NOLA Gold
11	Ciaran	Breen	Victoria, BC	Cowichan RFC
12	Matthew	Oworu	Calgary, AB	Pacific Pride
13	Elias	Hancock	Ottawa, ON	Bytown Blues

Coaches:

Position	First	Last	Hometown
Women’s Head Coach	Jack	Hanratty	Halifax, NS
Men’s Head Coach	Henry	Paul	Auckland, New Zealand

ABOUT TEAM CANADA 2022

The 2022 Commonwealth Games will be host to 72 participating nations and territories taking part in the Games. The Commonwealth Games are a valuable opportunity as a steppingstone and development opportunity for Canadian athletes, coaches, and managers working towards Olympic and Paralympic success. Canada’s performance projection in 2022 is a top 3 ranking, in total medals, amongst all nations and territories competing. Commonwealth athletes won 80%+ of Canada’s medals at the 2020 Olympic Games

Team Canada’s dedicated mission team will provide an optimal environment by celebrating equality, diversity, and non-discrimination. This is in support of our goals needed to enable a best ever performance by Canadian athletes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

ABOUT RUGBY CANADA

Rugby Canada is the national governing body of the sport of Rugby Union in Canada. They administer and operate Men’s and Women’s Senior and Junior National programs in both rugby 15s and 7s, as well as govern the Club and community game for more than 30,000 registered participants from coast to coast in conjunction with ten Provincial Union members.

Rugby Canada is headquartered at the Al Charron National Training Centre in Langford, BC, residing on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Lekwungen/Songhees peoples, with staff also working from Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa. Rugby Canada business operations, programs and events are delivered nationwide, including the internationally recognized HSBC Canada Sevens annual tournaments.

ABOUT COMMONWEALTH SPORT CANADA

Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) is the franchise holder for the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth sport movement in Canada. CSC is an active, contributing member of the Canadian sport community and supports Canada’s athletes to achieve excellence at Olympic, Paralympic Games, and world championships. The mission of CSC is to enrich the lives of youth across the Commonwealth and host the Commonwealth Games. CSC is responsible for all aspects of Canada’s participation in the XXII Commonwealth Games and will be sending a team of almost 400 of Canada’s best athletes and coaches to compete for Canada. The upcoming Games will occur in Birmingham, England from July 28 through to August 8, 2022. For additional information go to: www.commonwealthsport.ca.

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For more information, please contact:

Patrick Kenny 

Communications Team Leader – Team Canada 2022

Email: patrick@commonwealthsport.ca

613 724 7160

Oliver Wheeler

Manager, Communications – Rugby Canada

Email: owheeler@rugby.ca

647 458 4005