White Rock's Kyle Tremblay is on his way to South Africa.
The rugby player, 25, was among 13 named to the Canada’s Men’s Sevens team for the first two legs of the 2025 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger after helping his team win the men's invitational at this past weekend's Rugby Sevens event in Vancouver.
Cape Town, South Africa will host the opening rounds March 1-2 and March 7-8, with teams set to compete at Athlone Stadium. After the opening rounds, the top eight ranked men’s teams will progress to the third round in Krakow, Poland in April.
All 13 players on the roster competed at the men’s invitational at BC Place this past weekend alongside the 10th edition of HSBC SVNS Vancouver. Twelve of these players made it onto the scoresheet in Vancouver, with Ethan Hager and Jamie Armstrong (the 2024 Back of the Year at the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship) leading the way on the team with four tries each through four games, a Rugby Canada release noted.
Players such as Alex Russell, Thomas Isherwood, Kal Sager and Elias Hancock will bring valuable experience to the squad, with up-and-coming players who impressed in Vancouver looking to make their mark and play a part in Canada’s journey back to the HSBC SVNS series.
Two players, Morgan Di Nardo and Maple Ridge's Ethan Turner, made their debut for Canada last year at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, while Tremblay, who plays with Pacific Pride Development Academy, and Johnny Franklin debuted in November at the Rugby Americas North Sevens.
Brenden Black, who also had a confident showing in Vancouver as one of the team’s strongest conversion kickers, was the youngest player to ever be capped in the MLR when he played his first professional game in 2023, while Abbotsford's Noah Bain also made the roster.
“Having the opportunity to build cohesion as a team as well as fine tune our processes on and off field will allow us to hit the ground running in Cape Town,” said head coach Sean White, who visited Bayside Rugby in South Surrey last week with Tremblay and other players.
“I was certainly pleased with our performances in Vancouver, and it made for very difficult selections, which is what you always want as a coach. After a long travel day today, we will continue our recovery in Cape Town and make the adjustments needed to have a successful start to our Challenger Series.”
Following the third round, the top four ranked teams will qualify for the HSBC SVNS Play Off tournament in Los Angeles over May 3 to 4.
Find more information on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger online.
