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Canadian rugby sevens coach Damian McGrath identified depth as a problem in his squad early this season. Now a need for speed is on his radar.

The two are connected in a way.

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McGrath has to ride his top players hard in tournaments because his reserve strength is limited. That’s dangerous in the demanding world of sevens.

“So you tend to play those 12 as much as possible and they pick up knocks that you would usually be able to rest. And we don’t have direct replacements,” he said. “It’s not a reflection on our fringe players. They’re just not at that level yet.”

Canada is without the injured Phil Berna (knee) and Adam Zaruba (neck) as it gears up for Friday’s start of the Hong Kong Sevens. If ruled fit, they could rejoin the team for the April 15-16 stop in Singapore.

That injury list is an improvement from last time out in Vancouver, where McGrath’s squad finished seventh despite losing Justin Douglas (thigh contusion) and John Moonlight (knee) for part of the tournament. Carrying knocks from the previous Las Vegas event, both aggravated the injuries in the first game in Vancouver.