Three X-Women rugby athletes to play with team Canada
Three members of the X-Women rugby team have been named to the Canadian senior women’s rugby team for the upcoming North American Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) 7s Championship in Ottawa, a 2013 Rugby 7s World Cup regional qualifying tournament. Centre Lisa Gauthier (St. Bernadin, ON), fullback Magali Harvey (Quebec City) and winger Amanda Thornborough (Brandon, MB) will all be donning the red and white for the August 25-26, 2012 tournament. Veteran national 7s team member and X-Women alumnus Ghislaine Landry is currently recovering from an injury and will not play in the NACRA championship.
The complete story from Rugby Canada Communications follows.
NATIONAL SENIOR WOMEN'S 7s ROSTER ANNOUNCED FOR NACRA 7s CHAMPIONSHIP
Rugby Canada is proud to announce the Women’s roster for the 2012 NACRA 7s Championship, a 2013 Rugby 7s World Cup Regional Qualifier, in Ottawa.
Canada will battle it out with Guyana, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Mexico, Barbados, St Vincent and The Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago for the last open World Cup spot in the NACRA region. Canada, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago are heavily favoured going into the competition.
Rugby Canada sent a team of Women’s selects to Barbados last year for the 2011 NACRA tournament. Though it was the first time a Canadian Women’s team participated in the annual 7s competition, The Maple Leafs had a strong showing at the competition and took the tournament after defeating Jamaica 38-0.
The stakes are much higher this time as the winner of the tournament will qualify for the Rugby 7s World Cup in Moscow next year. Canada will have no room for error, as each nation will be sending in the strongest teams they can put together. Head Coach John Tait commented on Canada’s goal in the competition.
“First and foremost is to qualify for the R7WC 2013. Secondary it will provide an opportunity to a few younger players that impressed in the recent East-West trials, to show that they are ready to factor in this year’s 7s series and build to Moscow next June.”
Tait assured that Rugby Canada is sending in the best available players, emphasizing the calibre of the players that were chosen by the National 7s program.
“There are some potential world-class players in this group that are continuing to improve all the time, the likes of Magali Harvey and Bianca Farella are two examples of this,” Tait said. “Leading from the front and captaining the team will be Jen Kish, who I believe, has quickly become the best two way player in the world of women's rugby. She checks all the boxes of what a coach could ask of a player in her position and most of the others on the field as well.”
Despite success in Barbados last year and the strength of the team selected, Tait is expecting stiff competition from every team as any weaknesses can make or break a 7s matchup and a favoured team could be easily knocked out if its players let their guard down.
“7s is the kind of game that you'd be foolish to take any opponent lightly. We are favoured to win qualification and will do so by focusing on our game and what we want to achieve every time we take the field regardless of who will be the opposition.”
The competition takes place on August 25 and 26 at Twin Elm Rugby Park in Ottawa, Ontario. Rugby Canada is calling on the Canadian rugby community to support our Women’s 7s team when they battle the rest of the region for a spot in the biggest seven-a-side competition in the world!
To buy tickets to the NACRA 7s Championship, visit tickets.rugbycanada.ca
For more information on the event, visit events.rugbycanada.ca
For more information on NACRA, visit the region’s website at www.nacrugby.com
Canada’s NACRA Women’s Team Roster
Britt Benn - Fergus Highland Rugby Club (Guelph ON) Guelph University
Arielle Dubissette-Borrice - Toronto Scottish (Ajax ON) University of Western Ontario
Bianca Farella - Town of Mount Royal Rugby Football Club (Montreal QC)
Lisa Gauthier - Ottawa Irish (St-Bernardin ON) St. Francis Xavier University
Megan Gibbs - Markham Irish Canadians (Barrie ON)
Julia Greenshields - Sarnia Saints Rugby Club (Sarnia ON)
Magali Harvey - Club de Rugby de Québec (Quebec City QC) St. Francis Xavier University
Jen Kish - Edmonton Rockers (Edmonton AB)
Kayla Moleschi - Williams Lake Womens Rustlers (Williams Lake BC)
Karen Paquin - Club de Rugby de Québec (Quebec City QC) Université Laval
Amanda Thornborough - Brandon Barbarians (Brandon MB) St. Francis Xavier University
Julianne Zussman - Town of Mount Royal RFC (Verdun QC)
Staff
John Tait- Head Coach
Sandro Fiorino- Assistant Coach
Claudine Tyrell -Team Manager
Jason White – Athletic Therapist
The National Women's 7s team is proudly sponsored by Macquarie Financial with additional support from Own the Podium.