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Rugby Canada’s plan to have one centralized pool of men’s players rather than having separate 15s and sevens training squads is off to a rocky start.

A source said 13 of the sevens players have boycotted training in suburban Victoria and secured legal representation out of concerns their pay is being reduced and their side of the sport is being minimized.

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Several months of back and forth between Rugby Canada and the player dissidents have not solved the impasse.

The sevens players’ previous contracts expired at the end of August and they are balking at the new version. Rugby Canada CEO Allen Vansen acknowledges that some of the sevens players are being offered less compensation, saying it is necessary in order to spread the organization’s limited resources among the entire player pool.

Vansen, while sympathetic to those whose lot is changing under the new framework, says Rugby Canada has no alternative. And that it would move on as needed to field a team if the current crop of sevens players continue to dig their heels in.