Canadian men's rugby 7s team faces familiar foes in London

The Canadian men's rugby sevens team has had a rough go in this year's HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

In addition to being relegated to the Challenge Trophy consolation bracket in all but one tournament so far, the squad has also dealt with a myriad of injuries and lost longtime captain John Moonlight to retirement.

• Canadian rugby is facing a critical moment

So, how does second-year head coach Damian McGrath boost morale and keep his charges motivated to improve? Scottish stand-up comedy, among other things.

"It's amazing what you can find on YouTube," McGrath said while describing an expletive-speckled routine from comedian Billy Connolly that he used to list his demands at a training session. "Things like that grab people's attention.

"I try to keep things fresh and light."

Breaking up the monotony of a gruelling professional season is only part of McGrath's rationale.

"It's how you put the message over," the 60-year-old Brit said. "If you can put it over in a way that people think is memorable, then usually you get the message to stick."

The 11th-ranked Canadians head into the penultimate Sevens Series event of the season in London with a tall order in front of them. They're in a pool with Russia, Samoa and reigning Series champion South Africa — against whom Canada is a combined 1-9 this season, including an 0-5 record against Samoa and 0-4 against the Blitzboks.

"We're not really approaching it too differently," standout player Justin Douglas said. "It's just been one or two plays that have been a deciding factor.

"We've had a couple times where we've let in a couple really quick tries and then we're chasing the game. We just really need to settle down and either get into our attack or defend our line well."

Mastering momentum

Douglas has been one of the few bright spots for Canada this season. The 24-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., currently sits atop the DHL Performance Tracker rankings, which measure a player's all-around impact on the field.

For his part, Douglas has bought into McGrath's approach.

"He creates a really good atmosphere and it really makes everybody want to come into training, want to work for the guy next to you, want to work for him," Douglas said.

"He's great to learn under, for sure."

McGrath will be relying on Douglas, as well as "old guard" players like Harry Jones and captain Nathan Hirayama, to break through in pool play. Regardless of planning, sevens can be a fickle game.

"Momentum's a huge thing in this form of rugby," said McGrath, who previously coached Samoa. "If the momentum turns against you, it's very hard to readdress it.

"The teams that make the least errors are usually the ones that come out on top and we've been so inconsistent this year."

Injuries to key contributors like Lucas Hammond and Mike Fuailefau and a shallow pool of replacements to draw on compound any on-field mistakes Canada makes. As well, speedster Tevaughn Campbell will not be available for the remaining two Series tournaments after returning to the Canadian Football League.

Even with these challenges, McGrath is confident in his team's potential.

"We probably played better rugby this year than we did last year when we had relative success," the coach said. "But we've also missed out with some poor decisions and errors.

"If we were ranked our best when everybody was fit, we would be a Top 8 team. Sixth, seventh, eighth is about as good as we could be at this present time."

Watch live

The entire tournament is being streamed live on CBCSports.ca, beginning with Canada vs. Samoa on Saturday at 4:30 a.m. ET. Canada then faces South Africa at 7:58 a.m. ET and Russia at 10:42 a.m. ET. 

Full Canadian roster

• Luke Bradley (Port Alberni, B.C.)
• Connor Braid (Victoria)
• Andrew Coe (Toronto)
• Admir Cejvanovic (Burnaby, B.C.)
• Justin Douglas (Abbotsford, B.C.)
• Mike Fuailefau (Victoria)
• Lucas Hammond (Toronto)
• Nathan Hirayama (Richmond, B.C.)
• Harry Jones (North Vancouver)
• Isaac Kaay (Kamloops, B.C.)
• Pat Kay (Duncan, B.C.)
• Luke McCloskey (Victoria)
• Matt Mullins (Belleville, Ont.)