Injury to Phil Mack big loss for Canadian Sevens team

Toronto, ON - 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.

“Having Morgan is going to help a lot, and now it is a chance for other players to step up and fill other roles,” explained Thompson. “We have been hit hard by injuries, but the players rise to the occasion when things like this happen.”

New Brunswick’s Chauncey O’Toole will be brought into the squad - making for an extra forward in the team, but Thompson is not worried about replacing Mack’s spot with a forward.

“Really - when you look at Phil’s role - as a scrum-half in sevens there might be two or three scrums in a game, so it is more about getting playmakers on the field,” he said.

The nature of jaw fractures normally incurs at least six weeks of healing, though - the side effect is usually weight loss as normal diet is replaced by shakes and other nutrients taken via liquids.

National 15s coach Kieran Crowley, who is on his way to Ontario to watch two McCormick Cup semi-finals this weekend, said the loss of Mack to the European tour was hard news, but they would be considering their options over the weekend to replace the wiry speedster, who hails from Victoria.

Canada takes on Trinidad and Tobago and the Cayman Islands in their group on October 25th and 26th - and will be looking to finish in the top two of the event to advance to the Sevens World Cup in Dubai this coming March. Canada’s women’s team will also be at the tournament qualifying among nine countries.

Tags: Rugby Canada