Emerging Victoria player Caroline Crossley has drawn into the roster for the Canadian women’s rugby sevens team.

The Langford-based Canadian side, the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist, won the Sydney Sevens this month, and opens pool play Friday in the Las Vegas Sevens against Russia, Argentina and France.

article continues below

Crossley, out of the Castaway Wanderers, earned her first cap in 2015 at Dubai while in Grade 12 at Oak Bay. The 19-year-old’s progression has been steady since and she has been on the edges of selection.

“Everyone has been training well, so it was a tough selection. Caroline has been consistently good in the practice and scrimmages, so I’m looking forward to watching her compete in Vegas,” said Canadian coach John Tait, in a statement.

Meanwhile, captain John Moonlight will become Canada’s all-time men’s caps leader this weekend at the Las Vegas Sevens. He is currently tied at 52 with Phil Mack of Victoria, who retired from sevens and is now playing XVs for Canada. Moonlight and Mack are the only two Canadians to have played in more than 50 World Sevens Series tournaments.

It will be like a University of Victoria reunion this week in Vegas with Vikes players or alumni Luke Bradley of Port Alberni, Pat Kay of Duncan, Lucas Hammond, Nathan Hirayama and Isaac Kay named to the Canadian squad. Also named were St. Michaels University School grads and Castaway Wanderers Mike Fuailefau and Luke McCloskey.

The Canadian side, ranked No. 12, is drawn into a pool in Las Vegas with Wales, France and Olympic bronze-medallist South Africa.

Meanwhile, in the men’s XVs America’s Championship, host Uruguay upset Canada 17-13 in Maldonado on the weekend. Conor Trainor scored the Canadian try and Gordon McRorie slotted two penalty goals and Brock Staller the convert.

It was only the second Test win for Uruguay against Canada, the first since 2002, and was another ominous sign about how hard qualification will be for Canada for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

Canada is now 1-3 in the Americas Championship, after opening the tournament with a loss to Argentina XV and a victory over Chile, both at Westhills Stadium in Langford.

The U.S. Eagles then defeated the Langford-based Canadian team 51-34 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby.

The U.S. and Canada will meet in June in a two-game qualifier for the North American berth into the 2019 World Cup. The loser of the qualifier must go through a backdoor repechage route in South America.