Stars Rugby 7s Women's & Men's Squads for Las Vegas & Vancouver

Information for this article was provided by Liz Entwhistle, Director of Stars Rugby

The Stars Rugby 7s Men’s and Women’s team will have two teams entered for both the Men’s and Women’s Elite divisions at the Las Vegas Invitational and also for the Vancouver Rugby Festival March 10-12, 2016. The latter is also run in conjunction with the inaugural HSBC Canada Sevens Vancouver Tournament taking place March 12th-13th, 2016 at BC Place Stadium. The Vancouver Rugby Festival teams and pools is still being finalized.

The Women’s Elite Division at the Las Vegas Invitational consists of 16 Elite and National teams.

The Stars Rugby 7s has traveled the world in playing Elite rugby. They were at the Central Coast Sevens in Australia where they developed an important connection in Nathan McMahon, who coaches the Australia Developmental 7s Women. He coached the Stars at training sessions and assisted in completing some last minute player vacancies. He has also been instrumental in both player and coaching exchanges.

There are three Australian players on the Stars. Josephine Maejiirs and Nita Maynard (Sydney Rams) were Nathan McMahon connections, while Erica Fowler (Queensland Reds & Australian Universities, Brisbane) joined the team as the result of interaction with Liam Hutchinston. Both Maejiirs and Maynard played on the Sydney Rams side that won against the Stars in the Plate.

There are also two USA Women’s Eagles 7s players on the team in Dana Meschisi and Ida Bernstein.

Other players have been part of ARPTC and National player pools.

The team also traveled to the New York 7s and the Tobago 7s. At all the tournaments players are observed and have become future and current Stars.USA Rugby have implemented a national tracking system for elite athletes and the Stars have also implemented a similar system suited for developing players.

The Stars Women 1 are coached by Liam Hutchinson. Liam is in St. Albert, Canada where he is Head of Rugby for the only all girls Rugby academy, the Wildrose Rugby Academy. He is also the founder and president of Gypsy Rugby, a touring XVs side of players from Canada, the United States and Great Britain. The Stars Rugby 7s Liz Entwhistle has played for Gypsy Rugby and knows him well.

Liam was also formerly the head Coach/Director of Rugby for the Calgary Rams, as well as the Head Coach for Mount Royal University Ladies.

The Stars Rugby 2 is coached by Marcus Hurley, who is synonymous with rugby in Indiana. He founded the Big Ten Universities Rugby Conference and served as head coach of Indiana University Men’s Rugby team. He also has coached the Rugby Indiana All-Stars. Currently he is Director of Rugby at the University of Indianapolis RFC and is working with a New Zealand based rugby group to form his own development academy, LegendBorne Academy in Indiana. For more on Marcus read the Starts Rugby Blog by Liz Entwhistle.

Nic Benson has recently joined the Stars Rugby 7s coaching staff at the result of the Stars Rugby 15s competing against the Capital Rugby Union Selects. He joins Togamau Fanueli, who coaches the Stars Rugby 7s Men and was the head coachofthe Capital Rugby Selects Women. Nic will be assisting the lead coaches with video analysis, player feedback, game tactics, while also scouting the opposition. Nic most recently is the backs coach for the Washington Renegades and also for the Capital RFU Women’s Selects.

Photo: Nic Benson (Stars Rugby Blog) taken by Alex Edelman Photography

The Stars Men have their own players of note. Marcus Satavu has played for the Eagles 7s and is a veteran of two prior Stars tours. Nick Laws, from Sunnybank Rugby has participated in three Stars tours. Tom Connor and Loui Fesolai have been in the Australia 7s pool. Sam Caslick is the captain of Tribe 7s, which have been in prominent sevens tournaments winning or making the Cup Final at Shanghai 7s, Noosa 7s, Dubai 7s and more. His sister Charlotte is on Australia 7s and Tribe 7s and was a World Player of the Year finalist.

Nathan McMahon has extensive connections with ICONZ and at Randwick. He has been a guest coach for both their teams. Randwick recently won the Sydney 7s Club Tournament there, where Harry Boileau, Sam Caslick, Lewie Catt, and Tom Connor were on the roster.

The only College player on the team, John Sullivan, is from Saint Bonaventure. Coaches Tui Osborne and Clarence Picard recommended him and he played in the Capital Selects match and proved a huge asset.

The Stars XV match against the Capital Rugby Union Selects also found Bobby Kling, Matt Ryan, Julius Fletcher and Robert Newcomb playing for the Stars, while Zach Schell performance earned him an invitation for Las Vegas.

Lucas Hotton from Rugby Quebec will join the team for the Vancouver leg of tour. He competed against the Stars in both the NY and Tobago 7s. Similarly Andreas Robertson has competed against us at Tobago 7s on the Esher side that won the past three men’s title there. He is also on the Denmark National 7s Team.

The Stars Rugby 7s will not be at the Atlanta 7s, but Liz will be scouting and hopefully adding to the Stars Rugby family. The Stars will travel to Calgary this Summer, to Oregon Rugby Sports Union for a 15s match over Labor Day weekend, return to both the Byron Bay 7s and Central Coast 7s in Australia in October and finish the year in a flurry with the New York 7s, Tobago 7s and a Hawaiian tour to end December.

Thursday Pool Play Field 15 900 South Africa Select v Stars Rugby 2 1020 Stars Rugby 1 v Northeast ODA 1120 USA Select 7s v Stars Rugby 2 100 Stars Rugby 1 v Atlantis

Friday Pool Play Field 15 900 Brazil Women’s 7’s v Stars Rugby 2 1000 Maple Leafs v Stars Rugby 1

Friday Quarterfinals Field 15 1220 #25 QF Bowl 3rd Pool A vs 4th Pool B 1240 #26 QF Bowl 3rd Pool D vs. 4th PoolC 100 #27 QF Bowl 3rd Pool C vs. 4th Pool D 120 #28 QF Bowl 3rd Pool B vs. 4th Pool A 140 #29 Cup QF 1st Pool A vs. 2nd Pool B 200 #30 Cup QF 1st Pool D vs. 2nd Pool C 220 #31 Cup QF 1st Pool C vs. 2nd Pool D 240 #32 Cup QF 1st Pool B vs 2nd Pool A

Saturday Shield/Bowl/Plate Semis & Finals Field 15 800 #33 SF Shield Loser #25 vs. Loser #26 820 #34 SF Shield Loser #27 vs. Loser #28 840 #35 SF Bowl Winner #25 vs. Winner #26 900 #36 SF Bowl Winner #27 vs. Winner #28 920 #37 SF Plate Loser #29 vs. Loser #30 940 #38 SF Plate Loser #31 vs. Loser #32 1020 #41 Shield Final Winner #33 vs. Winner #34 1040 #42 Bowl Final Winner #35 vs. Winner #36 1100 #43 Plate Final Winner #37 vs. Winner #38

Sunday Cup Semis and Final in Stadium 938 #39 SF Cup Winner #29 vs. Winner #30 1000 #40 SF Cup Winner #31 vs. Winner #32 148 #44 Cup Final Winner #39 vs. Winner #40

The Men’s Elite Division is now called the America Cup Men’s Elite. There are 20 teams in this division that also feature both Elite and National teams. The France Development team replaced Mexico who withdrew from the tournament.

Thursday Pool Play Field 14 840am NEODA v Stars 2 920am Stars 1 v Cayman 2 1140am Chile v Stars 2 1220pm Stars 1 v Peru 220pm Stars 2 v Air Force 240pm Daveta v Stars 1

Friday All Quarterfinals, Bowl, Field 14 800 #25 QF Plate #1 vs #8 820 #26 QF Plate #4 vs. #5 840 #27 QF Plate #3 vs. #6 900 #28 QF Plate #2 vs. #7 920 #29 Cup QF #1 vs. #8 940 #30 Cup QF #4 vs. #5 1000 #31 Cup QF #3 vs. #6 1020 #32 Cup QF #2 vs #7 1040 #33 Plate Loser #25 vs. Loser #26 1100 #34 Plate Loser #27 vs. Loser #28 1120 #35 SF Plate Winner #25 vs. Winner #26 1140 #36 SF Plate Winner #27 vs. Winner #28 1200 #37 Cup Loser #29 vs. Loser #30 1220 #38 Cup Loser #31 vs. Loser #32 322 Plate Final Winner #35 vs. Winner #36-IN STADIUM

Friday Knockouts Field 17 920 #29 Bowl SF #1 vs. #4 940 #30 Bowl SF #2 vs. #3 1200 #35 3/4 Bowl Loser #29 vs. Winner #30 300 Bowl Final Winner #29 vs. Winner #30-IN STADIUM

Saturday Cup Semis & Finals 1028 #39 SF Cup Winner #29 vs. Winner #30 -IN STADIUM 1050 #40 SF Cup Winner #31 vs. Winner #32- IN STADIUM 319 Cup Final Winner #39 vs. Winner #40- IN STADIUM

Vegas Roster Women: Dana Alimena – fly/center/prop – Claremont Foxes, Claremont, USA Missy Bass – center- University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada Ida Bernstein – prop/center/wing – At Large, Colorado Springs, USA *Lizzy Bristow – scrumhalf/flyhalf/hooker – Chicago Lions/ARPTC, Chicago, USA Tahlia Brody – prop/center – SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, USA *Ashlee Byrge – hooker/scrumhalf.wing – Davenport University, Grand Rapids, USA Kelly Dean – center/scrumhalf – San Diego Surfers, San Diego, USA *Emilia Ferrara – prop/center – Notre Dame College, Cleveland, USA Frieda Fetuu – prop – Berkeley All Blues, Berkeley, USA Erica Fowler – flyhalf/center/prop – Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia Autumn Garibay -center/prop – Wichita Valkyries, Wichita, USA Mickey Ghannam – prop – ARPTC/Little Rock Stormers, Little Rock, USA Jacque Harrell – wing – HARC, Houston, USA Tee Kawaihoa-Marquez – prop – Lady Harlequins, Honolulu, USA Gianna Khoudary – scrumhalf – Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, USA Erica Legaspi – wing – Budd Bay Bandits, Olympia, USA Josephine Maejiirs (Bavatu) – wing/prop – Sydney Rams, Sydney, Australia Melanie Marotta – wing/center – NJ Blaze, Rockaway, USA Nita Maynard – scrumhalf/wing – Sydney Rams, Sydney, Australia Dana Meschisi – scrumhalf/prop/center – At Large, San Diego, USA Madeline Midas – wing – Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, USA Tina Tela – flyhalf/center – Utah Vipers, Salt Lake City, USA *Sarah Thomas – prop – Wisconsin Women, Madison, USA *Amy Verdonik – scrumhalf – University of Scranton/NEODA, Scranton, USA Angelina White – prop – Buffalo Women, Buffalo, USA *Justine Wypych – wing – Wisconsin Women, Madison, USA

INJURY RESERVES: *Tricia Harris – scrumhalf – Youngbloodz/Minnesota Valkyries, Minneapolis, USA Evan Hoese – prop/center – Berkeley All Blues, Berkeley, USA *Nikki Kenyon – wing/center – Life West Gladiatrix, Hayward, USA *Madison Taylor – wing – Berkeley All Blues, Berkeley, USA *Breean Walas – scrumhalf – Little Rock Stormers, Little Rock, USA

COACH: Liam Hutchinson, St Albert, Canada COACH: Marcus Hurley, Indianapolis, USA ASSISTANT COACH: Nic Benson, San Diego, USA PHYSIO: Kemba Noel-London, Trinidad and Tobago HEALTH & WELLNESS: Erica Black, Seattle, USA DIRECTOR: Liz Entwhistle, Chicago, USA

Vegas Roster Men: *Brandon Baker – wing/center – Campion Grads RFC, Regina, Canada Harry Boileau – hooker/scrumhalf, Tribe 7s, Sydney, Australia Sam Caslick – flyhalf – Tribe 7s, Brisbane, Australia Lewie Catt -prop – Iconz 7s, Sydney, Australia Tom Connor – hooker/center – Tribe 7s, Sydney, Australia *Daniel Cook – prop – Snake River Rugby, Boise, USA Cliff Davidson -hooker/prop – San Antonio RFC, San Antonio, USA Loui Fesolai -center/prop/hooker – Caloundra RFC, Sunshine Coast, Australia Antony Fitch -scrumhalf/flyhalf – Bournemouth, Wimborne, England Tyler Herrara -center/scrumhalf – San Antonio RFC, San Antonio, USA *Lee Hoskins – prop – Youngbloodz 7s, Minneapolis, USA Bradley Jones – center/flyhalf – Bond University Rugby Club, Gold Coast, Australia Tola Kasali – prop – Washington Rugby Club, Washington DC, USA *Bobby Kling – hooker/center – DC Irish, Washington DC, USA *Nick Laws – scrumhalf/center/wing – Sunnybank, Brisbane, Australia Evan Pierson – wing – Kansas City Blues, Kansas City, USA Junior Va’a Pulu – prop/hooker – Nashville RFC, Nashville, USA Andreas Robertson – prop/center – Esher, England *Matt Ryan – prop/hooker – Old Aztec, San Diego, USA *Marcus Satavu – hooker/prop/wing – New Haven RFC, New Haven, USA Zack Schell – prop/center/wing – Pittsburgh Harlequins, Pittsburgh, USA *John Sullivan – prop – Saint Bonaventure, Buffalo, USA John Taulaga – flyhalf – Denver Barbarians, Denver, USA Bradley Yandle – prop/center – Austin Blacks, Austin, USA

INJURY RESERVES: *Garrett Jones – scrumhalf/flyhalf/wing – OMBAC, San Diego, USA *Matt Long – wing – OMBAC, San Diego, USA *Kameron Moeller – flyhalf – Belmont Shore, Los Angeles, USA

COACH: Togamau Fanueli, Washington DC, USA COACH: Jacko Ah Hoy, Charlotte, USA ASSISTANT COACH: Nic Benson, San Diego, USA PHYSIO: Kemba Noel-London, Trinidad and Tobago HEALTH & WELLNESS: Erica Black, Seattle, USA DIRECTOR: Liz Entwhistle, Chicago, USA

Vancouver 7s Roster Women: Manuela Abreu – prop/flyhalf/center, Belo Horizonte Rugby Clube, Belo Horizonte, Brazil Parisa Asgharzadeh – center/prop – Seattle Saracens, Seattle, USA Alanna Fittes – wing/center – Leprechaun Tigers, Edmonton, Canada *Erica Fowler – flyhalf/center/prop – Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia *Tee Kawaihoa-Marquez – prop – Lady Harlequins, Honolulu, USA Ruby Kinsella – back – Calgary Hornets, Calgary, Canada *Erica Legaspi – wing – Budd Bay Bandits, Olympia, USA *Josephine Maejiirs (Bavatu) – wing/prop – Sydney Rams, Sydney, Australia *Emily Speyer – wing – At Large, Buffalo, USA Karina Stevenson – scrumhalf/wing – Titans, Calgary, Canada *Sarah Thomas – prop – Wisconsin Women, Madison, USA *Justine Wypych – wing – Wisconsin Women, Madison, USA

COACH: Liam Hutchinson, St Albert, Canada PHYSIO: Kemba Noel-London, Trinidad and Tobago DIRECTOR: Liz Entwhistle, Chicago, USA

Vancouver 7s Roster Men: *Brandon Baker – wing/center – Campion Grads RFC, Saskatchewan, Canada *Tom Connor – hooker/center – Tribe 7s, Sydney, Australia *Daniel Cook – prop – Snake River Rugby, Boise, USA *Loui Fesolai -center/prop /hooker- Caloundra RFC, Sunshine Coast, Australia *Antony Fitch -scrumhalf/flyhalf – Bournemouth, Wimborne, England *Julius Fletcher – center/prop – Treasure Coast, Port Saint Lucie, USA Lucas Hotton – prop – Town of Mount-Royal RFC, Montreal, Canada Bradley Jones – center/flyhalf – Bond University Rugby Club, Gold Coast, Australia *Matt Lancor – scrumhalf/flyhalf, Chicago Lions, Chicago, USA *Nick Laws – scrumhalf/center/wing – Sunnybank, Brisbane, Australia *Robert Newcomb – wing/prop – Potomac Exiles, Washington DC, USA *Mikey Reinhard – scrumhalf – Surrey Beavers, Surrey, Canada *Matt Ryan – prop/hooker – Old Aztec, San Diego, USA Eric Soto – prop – Seattle Saracens, Seattle, USA

COACH: Togamau Fanueli, Washington DC, USA PHYSIO: Kemba Noel-London, Trinidad and Tobago DIRECTOR: Liz Entwhistle, Chicago, USA