Just a week ahead of crucial IRB Sevens World Cup qualifiers one of Canada’s top men’s team performers has been knocked out of contention for the North America West Indies (NAWIRA) event being held in Nassau, the Bahamas.

Canada’s Sevens iron man Phil Mack, has suffered a fractured jaw in training - making him a scratch for both the Sevens trip - and also the three week 15s tour to Europe that follows the Sevens qualifier. Saying he was deeply disappointed by the bad turn of events, coach for the Sevens team, Shane Thompson was stoic in speaking about the incident.

“He has gone some twenty events and played nearly every minute of every game, with no injuries,” ruminated Thompson from Victoria, BC, where the team is based. “That is the nature of sport though isn’t it - you can’t predict when things will happen.”

Thompson says the team was engaged in a light contact open play drill, where players go to ground to simulate a tackle. Mack was going to ground, when Neil Meechan’s knee made contact, resulting in the fracture.
Mack who has 20 caps on the Sevens circuit, was Canada’s leading scorer on the IRB circuit last season, and was ranked fourth in the overall scoring race. Thompson admits that Mack’s play making ability will be hard to replace but notes having veteran Morgan Williams in the side will help.

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