John Moonlight is set to break the all-time Canadian tournament appearance record at the HSBC USA Sevens.
Moonlight will surpass Phil Mack's record of 52 tournaments when he takes to the turf in Las Vegas. The duo are the only two players in Canadian history to play in 50 or more series tournaments.
“It’s a huge honour to have represented Canada so many times,” Moonlight said. “I cherish every time I can pull on the jersey and hope I can continue to make everyone at home proud.”
Head coach Damian McGrath has chosen an experienced outfit to contest the fifth round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, where they will face series leaders South Africa as well as France and Wales in Pool A. Canada sit 12th in the series standings having finished 13th in three of the first four events while finishing fourth at the Wellington Sevens.
“The result of our poor showing in Sydney is a very tough pool,” McGrath said. “South Africa are the best team in the world right now and looking like world champions elect. Wales are gaining the rewards of keeping a young team together over the past couple of years and have had some impressive results. However, we did beat them convincingly in Wellington. France as always have a very experienced squad whose inconsistent results are the only thing which stops them from challenging in the cup competition.
“There are no easy games or groups in men's sevens and as much as we are underdogs, the other teams will not be relishing playing us.”
Canada squad for Las Vegas: Phil Berna, Luke Bradley, Justin Douglas, Mike Fuailefau, Lucas Hammond, Nathan Hirayama, Harry Jones (captain), Caleb Jordan, Isaac Kaay, Pat Kay, Luke McCloskey, John Moonlight, Adam Zaruba
MORGAN BRINGS EXPERIENCE BACK FOR WALES
Wales' all-time record try-scorer Luke Morgan will make his return to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series after returning from an eight-month injury layoff.
Morgan, who has scored 63 tries for Wales, last played for Wales at the HSBC London Sevens last May. He will be joined in Vegas by James Benjamin, who also joins the squad for the first time since playing at Twickenham in 2016.
"Tournaments are coming thick and fast in this period of the season, but that is good in keeping momentum going," says head coach Gareth Williams. "We are lucky to be keeping the squad consistent again, and more importantly, it is fantastic to be welcoming Luke Morgan back after his recovery from a long-term knee injury. His experience and quality will be key in aiding the squad in a challenging group with Canada, France, and South Africa."
Consistency through the season is one of Williams's main priorities, and having regularly made the quarter-finals of the Cup this season, he's hoping Wales can go one step further.
"We progressed to the semi-finals in Dubai, so we'd like to get ourselves into that position again. However, the three teams we face will have something to say about that, so we need to ensure our intensity and execution is at its best to continue our young group's growth."
AFRIKA RETURNS FOR BLITZBOKS
All-time leading South Africa sevens points scorer Cecil Afrika has been named in head coach Neil Powell's squad for the HSBC USA Sevens.
Afrika, who has scored 1,167 points in his sevens career, has recovered from a knee injury that left him out of the rounds in Wellington and Sydney. Stephan Dippenaar is the second change in the squad, with the duo replacing Seabelo Senatla and Kwagga Smith who have headed off to Super Rugby.
“We knew that the time would come for us to play without Seabelo and Kwagga and that time is now,” said Powell.
“The fact that we have two proven players to slot in is indeed a bonus. Cecil has scored over a 1,000 points in the series and Stephan has been part of squads that won the Las Vegas tournament in the past, so I am pretty pleased."
South Africa have got off to a blistering start in the 2016-17 series, sitting atop the overall standings following three wins in four tournaments and will be keen to extend their lead in Las Vegas, a venue where they have won three times since 2010, when the USA round of the series was moved to Nevada.
The Blitzboks will play Canada, Wales and France in Pool A.
South Africa squad: Chris Dry, Philip Snyman (captain), Dylan Sage , Zain Davids, Werner Kok, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Branco du Preez, Stephan Dippenaar, Justin Geduld, Cecil Afrika, Rosko Specman, Ruhan Nel, Stedman Gans
FRANCE NAME DEBUTANT FOR LAS VEGAS
France head coach Frederic Pomarel has named one new face in his squad to contest the next two rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Las Vegas and Vancouver.
Alexandre Lagarde will be the only new player in the set-up, with captain Terry Bouhraoua also making the trip to North America following his recovery from a leg injury.
Pomarel's side are currently 10th in the standings, with their best finishes of seventh coming in Dubai and Wellington. France will face series leaders South Africa, Wales and Canada in the fifth round of the series.
France squad for Las Vegas: Jérémy Aicardi, Jean-Pascal Barraque, Bastien Berenguel,Terry Bouhraoua, Julien Candelon, Manoël Dall'Igna, Vincent Inigo, Alexandre Lagarde, Pierre-Gilles Lakafia, Jonathan Laugel, Jean-Baptiste Mazoue, Kelegh Moutome, Stephen Parez, Sacha Valleau.