National Coach Kingsley Jones Invites 36 Players to Three Week High Performance Camp in BC: 34 of 36 Have Played in the BC Premier League
[ed. when we listed the 34 players from the BC Premier, we only listed each player once starting with the universities, then the clubs. Some players have played for more than one BC Premier club, for example, UVic players Doug Fraser, Jake Ilnicki have also played for CW and Liam Murray and Conor Keys have also played for James Bay.]
The men’s national team will bring together 36 domestic based players for a high performance camp in Langford, BC from from November 9th to 29th.
Many of the players will be familiar to followers of the BC Premier league, 34 of the 36 players have played in the BC Premier. UBC is well represented with Theo Sauder, Andrew Coe, Phil Berna, Ben Lesage, Frank Carson, Izzak Kelly, Connor Sampson, Michael Smith – all have studied under the tutelage of coach Curry Hitchborn. The other BC university well represented is UVic with Guiseppe du Toit, Doug Fraser, Crosby Stewart, Liam Murray, Conor Keys, Jake Ilnicki – all have studied under the tutelage of coach Doug Tate. That’s 14 of 36 players who have played BC University rugby in the BC Premier league.
James Bay can boast that Lucas Rumball, Cooper Coats, Kainoa Lloyd, Patrick Parfrey, Josh Thiel, Cole Keith, Adrian Wadden, Matt Heaton have all worn the Blue of the Bays. The tricolours of CW are represented by Djustice Sears-Duru, Westshore by Quinn Ngawati and Brock Gallagher, Burnaby by Siaki Vikilani and Taitutsi Vikalani. The Pacific Pride which plays in the BC Premier have also had many of these players study under the tutelage of Jamie Cudmore but also can claim Tyler Rowland, Jake Thiel, Marc-Antoine Ouellet, Brock Webster, Will Kelly, Isaac Olsen and Dewald Kotze as current or former players.
The two players who haven’t played in the BC Premier before are Jason Higgins from Ireland and Andrew Quattrin from Ontario. Jason Higgins has a Canadian father so is eligible to play for Canada, the scrum half originally signed with New York last season but was unable to get a visa, he’s signed with the Toronto Arrows this year. Andrew Quattrin played club rugby with the Aurora Barbarians and is now with the Toronto Arrows.
There are a number of good players left off the list, Brandon Schellenberger scrum half for CW, UVic’s openside James O’Neill, Pride’s blindside Mason Flesch to name a few.
Hopefully there will be at least one intersquad match during the camp.
from Rugby Canada
Head coach Kingsley Jones has named a 36-player squad invited to a three-week high-performance training camp in Langford, BC. The players will assemble at the Al Charron National Training center from November 9th to 29th.
Head coach Kingsley Jones has named a 36-player squad invited to a three-week high-performance training camp in Langford, BC. The players will assemble at the Al Charron National Training center from November 9th to 29th.
Only Canadian-based players have been considered for selection to this camp due to COVID-19 related restrictions and quarantine requirements upon entry to Canada. In addition, Jones has eight Canadian players currently in French leagues and one player in New Zealand at his disposal but opted not to bring these players to camp as they are currently involved in active competitions.
The majority of the players selected have returned to training over the past eight weeks with either the Rugby Canada National Development Academy or the Toronto Arrows daily training environment. The high performance camp will serve as a next step in these players return to rugby pathway.
The camp will strictly follow Return to Sport guidelines for the Province of BC as set by the Provincial Health Authorities and associated agencies. The combined cohort of the camp will be less than 50 individuals including coaches/staff, medical staff, and players for the three-week period.
Head coach Kingsley Jones said, We are very much looking forward to November and getting to work with the players for the first time in over 12 months. Its been a tough 2020 for everyone, particularly watching rugby being played around the world and recently with international rugby added back to the calendar.
Were excited to see some experienced names including, Sears Duru, Ilnicki, LeSage, Rumball, and Parfrey, continued Jones, But equally as excited to include a number of National Development Academy players who have progressed exceptionally well in the past 14 months such as Liam Murray, Josh Thiel and Michael Smith to name a few. In addition, a number of our centralized 7s players will be taking part in preparation for next years Olympic Games and beyond. Theo Sauder, Brock Webster, Phil Berna, Andrew Coe, and Cooper Coates will all be in camp.
Jones concluded, As expected, the squad has a large number of Toronto Arrows players taking part and we are pleased that the Arrows coaching team of Aaron Carpenter, Pete Smith and Rodin Lozada will be supporting Jamie Cudmore, Phil Mack and I in coaching during the camp. We will also be joined by Arrows COO and general manager Mark Winokur.
Our Arrows organization is honoured to be involved in this training camp, and were very excited to get back onto the field with Rugby Canada, said Arrows Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Mark Winokur. With challenges exacerbated by the pandemic over the past several months, this camp is the best and most productive way to get back to doing what we love. This will be the biggest step we can take in 2020 to get back on the road to a successful return to the game, and to better times ahead.
High Performance Mens Training Camp:
Backs:
Phil Berna, UBC
Cooper Coats, Halifax Tars
Andrew Coe, Markham Irish
Guiseppe du Toit, Toronto Arrows
Doug Fraser, Old Glory DC
Brock Gallagher, Strathcona Druids RFC
Jason Higgins, Toronto Arrows
Will Kelly, Toronto Arrows
Ben LeSage, Toronto Arrows
Kainoa Lloyd, Mississauga Blues
Quinn Ngawati, Rugby United New York
Isaac Olsen, Castaway Wanderers
Patrick Parfrey, Toronto Arrows
Theo Sauder, Vancouver Rowing Club
Crosby Stewart, UVIC
Josh Thiel, San Diego Legion
Brock Webster, Oshawa Vikings
Forwards:
Frank Carson, UBC
Matt Heaton, Rugby ATL
Jake Ilnicki, Seattle Seawolves
Cole Keith, Toronto Arrows
Izzak Kelly, Canada U20 / UBC
Conor Keys, Rugby ATL
Dewald Kotze, Strathcona Druids RFC
Liam Murray, James Bay AA
Marc-Antoine Ouellet, Club de Rugby de Québec
Andrew Quattrin, Toronto Arrows
Tyler Rowland, Toronto Arrows
Lucas Rumball, Toronto Arrows
Connor Sampson, UBC
Djustice Sears-Duru, Seattle Seawolves
Michael Smith, UBC
Jake Thiel, James Bay AA
Siaki Vikilani, Toronto Arrows
Taitutsi Vikalani, Burnaby Lake Rugby Club
Adrian Wadden, Toronto Arrows