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Make it six. Canadian World Cup prop Jake Ilnicki has confirmed that he is headed south to play PRO Rugby for San Diego. The tighthead specialist will join up with international teammates Phil Mackenzie and Hubert Buydens at Torero Stadium once his visa application is approved. Ray Barkwill, Nick Blevins, and Kyle Baillie will also participate in the inaugural American professional rugby competition.
Originally hailing from the Williams Lake Rustlers club in the central interior of British Columbia, Ilnicki came to national attention as captain of the Canadian u20 team that competed at the 2012 World Rugby Junior Trophy tournament in Salt Lake City. He won his first senior cap a year later against Georgia and in 2014 earned his first test start against the US Eagles in Sacramento.
In 2014 Ilnicki was signed by the New South Wales (NSW) Country Eagles in Australia’s National Rugby Championship (NRC) and started five matches. After a standout display with Canada ‘A’ at the Pacific Challenge in Fiji, he returned to Australia in 2015 to play a key role as first choice tighthead with Eastern Suburbs in Sydney’s Shute Shield competition. Left out of the initial World Cup squad, he again signed for NSW Country but made only one appearance before being recalled to the Canadian squad as a replacement for Jason Marshall.
The 24-year-old lined up for Castaway Wanderers in the CDI Premier League before starting the first three matches of the new Americas Rugby Championship. A minor wrist injury knocked him out of the South American leg of the tournament, with the most recent of his 12 caps coming against Brazil in Langford.
