Canadian coach John Tait said “nervous excitement” permeates the host team’s camp ahead of the World Series women’s rugby Canada Sevens on Saturday and Sunday at Westhills Stadium in Langford.

And you might even hear a few of the ‘R’ words, as in revenge and redemption. Tait named his roster for the Canada Sevens on Tuesday as the host side comes in following the worst stretch in team history. Canada finished fourth and off the podium last month in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, and followed up in the Japan Sevens at Kitakyushu by failing to qualify for the championship round of a World Series tournament for the first time.

article continues below

“In Gold Coast, we were one possession away from the Commonwealth Games bronze medal, and that would have made the trip home feel a lot better,” said Tait.

“The wheels dropped off in Japan and that was a humbling experience. We addressed some issues after that and the team has looked sharp in training. We were banged up with the back-to-back from Gold Coast to Japan but now everyone is back except Britt Benn.”

The key returnee is captain Ghislaine Landry, who missed the Japan Sevens due to injury. Others named to the Canadian team for Westhills this weekend are Caroline Crossley, Pam Buisa, Hannah Darling, Bianca Farella, Julia Greenshields, Sara Kaljuvee, Megan Lukan, Kayla Moleschi, Breanne Nicholas, Natasha Watcham-Roy and Charity Williams.

The recent bad patch has seen the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Canadian team fall to No. 5 in the world.

“There will be ups and downs, but now we have an opportunity at home to show what we’re really made of,” said Oak Bay-product Crossley, who with Moleschi of Williams Lake, is one of two B.C. players on Canada.

“Japan was a shock for us. But that doesn’t describe who we are as a national team. We’ve analyzed it and what needed to be fixed. We’re looking forward to playing up to our ability at home.”

Canada opens Saturday against the defending Olympic champion and current world No. 1 Australia at 11:36 a.m. followed by other Pool C games against Spain at 2:08 p.m. and against Ireland at 5 p.m.

Canada, which lost in the final last year to New Zealand, has never won its home World Series tournament.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com