MONTREAL – Alex Russell, a McGill University graduate, has been named captain of the Canadian men's rugby sevens team and is among a 12-player roster announced by national team head coach Sean White to represent the country in Poland, at the third and final round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series. The tournament will be played at Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium in Krakow, Poland, April 11-12.
 
Canada will play Madagascar, Japan and Portugal on the first day, followed by the semifinals and finals on April 12. All games will be streamed live on TSN+.
 
The upcoming tournament is designed for second-tier national teams who are hoping to qualify for the elite HSBC SVNS, an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby. The top four ranked men's and women's teams at the end of the third round will qualify for the high stakes HSBC SVNS Playoff in Los Angeles on May 3-4, with an opportunity to gain promotion to the Series.
 
The Canadian squad, currently listed at No. 24 in the World Rugby rankings, features six Canadian university grads, including two from the Ottawa Gee-Gees, plus one apiece from McGill, Guelph, Victoria and UBC-Okanagan.
 
Russell, a 28-year-old native of Chichester, England who was raised in Bracebridge, Ont., starred four the McGill men's rugby squad for four years before graduating from McGill in 2018 with a bachelor of arts, majoring in economics. In 2021, he signed a two-year deal with Major League Rugby's Toronto Arrows. In addition to his pro rugby career, he serves as an ambassador for the British Columbia Epilepsy Society.
 
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound fly-half, first represented Canada in 2021 and since then, has scored 32 tries and 160 points in 112 international contests, earning 102 starts. During his time with the national team, he has competed in multiple international events, including the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the 2022 Rugby Sevens World Cup in South Africa, and the 2023 Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile, where he helped Canada win bronze. He also participated at the 2023 Olympic qualification tournament in Langford, B.C., and played a key role in Canada's HSBC Series playoff win in May, 2023, scoring a last-minute try to help Canada secure a 12-7 win over Kenya in the final.
 
The Canadian sevens roster heading to Poland includes nine players who competed in the first two rounds in Cape Town, where Canada finished second and third, respectively. This includes the team's leading try scorers, Kyle Tremblay (5 tries), Jamie Armstrong (4 tries), and Morgan Di Nardo (4 tries).  
 
Three players are set to make their international sevens debut. The Pacific Pride's Rhys James and James Thiel competed in the men's invitational tournament held alongside HSBC SVNS Vancouver in February, while Kainoa Lloyd brings his experience from 24 games with the national senior team. 
 
"We certainly are not resting on where we stand in the table and came away from Cape Town with some key areas where we wanted to make significant improvements," said Sean White. "All that being said, our results over the previous tournaments have put us in a great position where we control our destiny for LA. Debuting three new players shows the level of competition within our wider training group. Players all over the country, from club to university, have been working hard to make the most of their opportunities at camp. In our decentralized One Squad training model, we rely on relationships with coaches, schools and professors. It has been massive for us to have the support of players' educational institutions, and we thank each of them for their support of our national team members."  
 
More information on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger, including schedules and updated scores, can be found here. 
 
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE IN POLAND
(All games broadcast live on TSN+)
 
Friday April 11 
Canada's Men's Sevens Team vs Madagascar  
4:06 am EDT 

Canada's Men's Sevens Team vs Japan 
7:36 am EDT 

Canada's Men's Sevens Team vs Portugal 
10:44 am EDT 

Saturday April 12 
TBD: Semi-finals and finals 

CANADA'S MEN'S SEVENS TEAM 
 
1. Rhys James (Kelowna, BC) - UBC Okanagan / Pacific Pride 
2. James Thiel (Abbotsford, BC) - Abbotsford RFC / Pacific Pride 
3. Ethan Turner (Maple Ridge, BC) - Burnaby Lake Rugby Club 
5. Alex Russell (Bracebridge, ON) - McGill University 
13. Brenden Black (Oakville, ON) - Oakville Crusaders / Guelph University 
15. Ethan Hager (Brantford, ON) - Brantford Harlequins / Castaway Wanderers 
18. Morgan Di Nardo (Toronto, ON) - Toronto City Rugby / University of Victoria 
20. Jamie Armstrong (Ottawa, ON) - Ottawa Irish / University of Ottawa 
22. Kyle Tremblay (White Rock, BC) - Pacific Pride / Bayside RFC 
23. Thomas Isherwood (Okotoks, AB) - Foothills Lions RFC / Westshore RFC 
30. Kainoa Lloyd (Mississauga, ON) - Mississauga Blues / James Bay AA   
64. Elias Hancock (Ottawa, ON) - Bytown Blues / University of Ottawa 
 

WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS

(as of March 31, 2025)
 

RK	Teams	Points
1	South Africa	92.78
2	New Zealand	90.36
3	Ireland	89.83
4	France	89.51
5	Argentina	84.97
6	England	84.73
7	Scotland	82.36
8	Australia	81.52
9	Fiji	80.07
10	Italy	77.77
11	Georgia	74.69
12	Wales	73.39
13	Japan	72.95
14	Samoa	72.68
15	USA	70.02
16	Spain	67.34
17	Uruguay	67.06
18	Portugal	66.44
19	Tonga	65.46
20	Romania	64.61
21	Chile	61.72
22	Belgium	59.98
23	Hong Kong (China)	59.49
24	Canada	59.18
25	Namibia	57.87
26	Zimbabwe	57.16
27	Netherlands	57.01
28	Brazil	56.53
29	Switzerland	55.26
30	Sweden	54.41
31	Russia	52.06
32	Poland	52.00
33	Kenya	51.55
34	Czechia	50.89
35	Korea	50.77
36	Germany	50.37
37	Paraguay	48.35
38	Morocco	48.03
39	Mexico	47.71
40	Sri Lanka	47.39
41	Uganda	46.87
42	Malta	46.75
43	Croatia	46.74
44	Colombia	46.17
45	Trinidad & Tobago	45.97
46	Madagascar	45.76
47	Tunisia	45.56
48	United Arab Emirates	44.18
49	Malaysia	43.88
50	Ukraine	43.62
51	Cayman Islands	43.61
52	Senegal	43.17
53	Moldova	43.11
54	Lithuania	43.06
55	Luxembourg	42.89
56	Latvia	42.77
57	Algeria	42.69
58	Guyana	42.40
59	Singapore	42.13
60	Philippines	41.80
61	Cote D'Ivoire	41.69
62	Kazakhstan	40.49
63	Chinese Taipei	39.77
64	Jamaica	39.76
65	Israel	39.69
66	Zambia	39.24
67	Cook Islands	39.11
68	Bulgaria	38.99
69	Austria	37.51
70	Bermuda	37.20
71	Denmark	37.14
72	Barbados	36.88
73	Thailand	36.86
75	Nigeria	36.82
75	Venezuela	36.78
76	Botswana	36.21
77	Finland	35.18
78	Hungary	35.15
79	Peru	35.05
80	Slovenia	34.48
81	Turkey	34.43
82	Ghana	34.38
83	Andorra	34.31
84	St Vincent and the Grenadines	33.84
85	Serbia	33.82
86	India	31.83
87	Qatar	31.31
88	Burkina Faso	31.05
89	Guam	30.38
90	Pakistan	30.13
91	Iran	30.00
92	Costa Rica	29.75
93	St Lucia	28.92
94	China	28.91
95	Bosnia & Herzegovina	28.46
96	Papua New Guinea	27.68
97	Bahamas	27.58
98	Eswatini	26.04
99	Uzbekistan	25.28
100	Norway	24.58
101	Mauritius	24.56
102	Laos	24.00
103	Nepal	24.00
104	Rwanda	23.78
105	Cameroon	23.12
106	Niue Island	22.63
107	Burundi	20.16
108	Solomon Islands	17.97
109	Indonesia	15.95
110	Monaco	11.17
111	Greece	10.55
112	Vanuatu	9.29
113	American Samoa	7.53

SOURCE: 
RUGBY CANADA
and
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman