X-Women rugby athletes Magali Harvey (Quebec City, QC) and Amanda Thornborough (Brandon, MB) were named to Team Canada's roster for two upcoming international rugby sevens tournaments. Both will compete at the Hong Kong Sevens tournament March 22-24 and the China Sevens tournament March 30-31 in Guangzhou. X-Women alumnus and veterna team Canada member Ghislaine Landry will also be competing for Canada. The media release from Rugby Canada follows below. 

TAIT NAMES ROSTER FOR HONG KONG AND CHINA
 
Next up for Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team is the Hong Kong Invitational Sevens Tournament and the third leg of the Women’s Sevens World Series in Guangzhou, China. Ahead of those two events, Canada head coach John Tait has released his 12-player roster that will compete in both tournaments later this month.
 
Tait’s team has been placed in Pool B for the China event, alongside Australia, Japan and Ireland. Australia sits in second position on the series, having finished fourth and third in Dubai and Houston. Japan sit tied for 11th with France and Ireland is a non-core team.
 
After disappointing sixth and seventh place finishes in Dubai and Houston, Canada sits in seventh overall position with 18 points. Coach Tait is looking for a breakout performance in China from his side.
 
“Hong Kong and China are the last tournaments that I really want a hard look at players who are currently outside our core roster to see where everybody stands for World Cup selection,” said John, from the Centre of Excellence in Langford. “We selected our roster based on the players’ performances from the last few tournaments.”
 
Captaining the squad will once again be Jen Kish, who has been a steady performer on the circuit thus far. Joining Kish will be fellow team stalwarts Mandy Marchak, Ashley Steacy, Kelly Russell and Ghislaine Landry. Representing Quebec will be Elissa Alarie, Magali Harvey, Julianne Zussman and Karen Paquin.
 
Canada will be without the services of Bianca Farella and Kayla Moleschi, who have been sidelined due to respective wrist and lower-body injuries.
 
“We’ve had a lot of injuries to the group recently and with those two girls out it gives us the opportunity to get a closer look at some other players to see how they step up and compete at this level,” said Tait. “A few players on the Maple Leafs Black Team played very well in Las Vegas and were also in contention for Houston; They deserve the opportunity.”
 
The squad will also feature British Columbia’s Jessica Dovanne, Ontario’s Cheryl Phillips and Manitoba’s Amanda Thornborough. Ontario’s Arielle Dubissette-Borrice and Megan Gibbs have been selected to compete in Hong Kong as members of an International Barbarians side made up of players from around the world. Non-travelling reserves for the two events will include Julia Greenshields and Brittany Waters.
 
Canada will continue their extensive training and preparation this week at the Canadian Rugby Centre of Excellence and the Canadian Sports Institute before leaving for Hong Kong on Tuesday, March 19th.
 
“The weight we’re putting on this tour is that we need to go there and perform well in each game,” said Tait. “We’ve had some up and down performances this year and we haven’t gotten the results because of that.”
 
Canada will play a maximum of four games on Friday the 22nd in Hong Kong and then travel via rail from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, China on Tuesday March 26th and begin preparation for the significant weekend’s event. Hong Kong and China, along with London and Amsterdam, are the remaining events before the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow, Russia on June 28-30.
 
“We want to finish strong in the World Series to build confidence towards the World Cup in June; I’m excited by our improvement and looking forward to these tournaments,” said Tait.
 
Canadian National Women’s Sevens Squad
 
Name(Club) (Hometown)
Elissa Alarie, (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Rugby Club) Trois Rivieres, QC
Jessica Dovanne, (Velox Rugby Club) Victoria, BC
Magali Harvey, (Club de Rugby Quebec) Quebec City, QC
Jennifer Kish, Captain (Edmonton Rockers RFC) Edmonton, AB
Ghislaine Landry, (Toronto Scottish RFC) Toronto, ON
Mandy Marchak, (Capilano RFC) Winnipeg, MB
Karen Paquin, (Club de Rugby Quebec) Quebec City, QC
Cheryl Phillips, (Toronto Scottish RFC) Scarborough, ON
Kelly Russell, (Toronto Nomads) Bolton, ON
Ashley Steacy, (Lethbridge Rugby Club) Lethbridge, AB
Amanda Thornborough, (Brandon Barbarians RFC) Brandon, MB
Julianne Zussman, (Town of Mount Royal RFC) Montreal, QC
 
Competing in Hong Kong as members of the International Barbarians:
Arielle Dubissette-Borrice, (Toronto Scottish RFC) Toronto, ON
Megan Gibbs, (Markham Irish) Barrie, ON
 
Non-Travelling Reserves
Julia Greenshields, (Sarnia Saints RFC) Sarnia, ON
Brittany Waters, (Meraloma Athletic Club) Vancouver, BC
 
Coaches and Staff
John Tait, Head Coach, National Women’s Sevens
Sandro Fiorino, Assistant Coach, National Women’s Sevens
Tyler Goodale, Strength and Conditioning Coach
Meaghan Howat, National Women’s Manager
Brad Curry, Physiotherapist
 
Hong Kong Sevens
March 22, 2013
 
Day 1
Canada vs. Hong Kong – 08:40am local time
Canada vs. Japan – 11:20am local time
Later Games TBD

Guangzhou, China Sevens
March 30 - March 31, 2013
 
Day 1
Canada vs. Ireland – 11:50am local time
Canada vs. Japan – 2:12pm local time
Canada vs. Australia – 4:54pm local time
 
Day 2
TBD
 
Canada’s National Senior Women’s Sevens Team is proudly sponsored by Macquarie Financial, Trafigura and Own the Podium with Support from Sport Canada.
 
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