Canadian coach John Tait said 鈥渘ervous excitement鈥� permeates the host team鈥檚 camp ahead of the World Series women鈥檚 rugby sa国际传媒 Sevens on Saturday and Sunday at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
And you might even hear a few of the 鈥楻鈥� words, as in revenge and redemption. Tait named his roster for the sa国际传媒 Sevens on Tuesday as the host side comes in following the worst stretch in team history. sa国际传媒 finished fourth and off the podium last month in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, and followed up in the Japan Sevens at Kitakyushu by failing to qualify for the championship round of a World Series tournament for the first time.
鈥淚n Gold Coast, we were one possession away from the Commonwealth Games bronze medal, and that would have made the trip home feel a lot better,鈥� said Tait.
鈥淭he wheels dropped off in Japan and that was a humbling experience. We addressed some issues after that and the team has looked sharp in training. We were banged up with the back-to-back from Gold Coast to Japan but now everyone is back except Britt Benn.鈥�
The key returnee is captain Ghislaine Landry, who missed the Japan Sevens due to injury. Others named to the Canadian team for Westhills this weekend are Caroline Crossley, Pam Buisa, Hannah Darling, Bianca Farella, Julia Greenshields, Sara Kaljuvee, Megan Lukan, Kayla Moleschi, Breanne Nicholas, Natasha Watcham-Roy and Charity Williams.
The recent bad patch has seen the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Canadian team fall to No. 5 in the world.
鈥淭here will be ups and downs, but now we have an opportunity at home to show what we鈥檙e really made of,鈥� said Oak Bay-product Crossley, who with Moleschi of Williams Lake, is one of two sa国际传媒 players on sa国际传媒.
鈥淛apan was a shock for us. But that doesn鈥檛 describe who we are as a national team. We鈥檝e analyzed it and what needed to be fixed. We鈥檙e looking forward to playing up to our ability at home.鈥�
sa国际传媒 opens Saturday against the defending Olympic champion and current world No. 1 Australia at 11:36 a.m. followed by other Pool C games against Spain at 2:08 p.m. and against Ireland at 5 p.m.
sa国际传媒, which lost in the final last year to New Zealand, has never won its home World Series tournament.
