Abbotsford’s Justin Douglas has announced he is stepping away from the sport of rugby.
The 27-year-old stated on his Instagram page that after nine years with Rugby Canada, he is moving on.
Douglas recently represented Canada on the men’s rugby sevens team at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. The team posted one win and two losses at the event and lost in the quarter-finals stage.
“To everyone who made my time in this jersey feel so special, thank you,” he posted. “I don’t think it would’ve been hard to see how much the last nine years on the field have meant to me, pretty sure I had a smile on my face the entire time. It has been my absolute pleasure representing this country, alongside some of the best teammates and friends a guy could ask for.”
He originally began in the sport at Clayburn Middle School, aiming to follow in the footsteps of his older brothers Travis and Jared. From there, he excelled at Robert Bateman Secondary School before joining up with provincial team programs. Douglas went on to compete at the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games, before eventually cracking the Canadian men’s team roster in 2012.
Douglas represented Canada at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2013 and 2019 and went on to win a gold medal at the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games. He also was a part of Canada’s Commonwealth Games teams in 2014 and 2018.
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On the Sevens Series circuit, Douglas became a mainstay with the Canadian beginning in the 2014 season, finishing in the top-10 in matches and tries as Canada. Since then, Douglas has been one of the top performers for Canada as he sits second in tries (145) and third in tackles (320).
Douglas had a career highlight with Canada at the 2017 Singapore Sevens Cup, scoring three tries to help Canada to their first-ever tournament win. In 2018 Douglas was awarded the Sevens Series Impact Player of the Year, leading Canada with 35 tries.