Canada defeat Glasgow in Halifax

Canada celebrated their first ever match in Halifax with a 19-12 victory over the Glasgow Warriors in front of a capacity crowd of nearly 5,000 at Graves-Oakley Memorial Park. The win comes much-needed in Canada’s last match on home soil before departing for England on Sunday evening.

It was an ominous start as Glenn Bryce crossed in the corner only two minutes into the match to give the visitors a five point lead, but Canada settled in and once they got their hands on the ball they began to make inroads. A Connor Braid break put them in striking position, and after a couple picks close to the line, captain Jamie Cudmore powered over for the try. Nathan Hirayama’s conversion gave them a two point lead, one they would not relinquish for the duration.

A second score came in a similar fashion, this time after Nanyak Dala broke through the line with his support in hot pursuit. Ciaran Hearn was halted just short of the line, but Matt Evans was on hand to dive over, the straight-forward conversion stretching the lead to 14-5, one they would carry into the intermission. Numerous substitutions entered the game but it did not affect the match intensity.

The second half would have a much different look for Canada, as Glasgow controlled possession and had the home team pinned in their own end for the majority. Canada defended well but eventually replacement winger Junior Bulumakau was able to dive over the line for a try on his Glasgow debut. Scott Wight converted to close the gap to only two points.

A yellow card to Evan Olmstead for a professional foul in their own end looked to put Canada under pressure, but in a reversal of recent form, it was the home team who took control of the ball, going through multiple phases before DTH van der Merwe crossed in the left corner for a great team try against his former clubmates. The try sealed the win and as the final whistle sounded the smiles came out on both the players and management.

Canada depart for England on Sunday evening and will face Georgia in Esher on Wednesday, following quickly by a match against Fiji at the Stoop on Sunday to wrap up their World Cup preparations.

 

SCORING

CANADA 19
Tries – J. Cudmore (15′), M. Evans (27′), D. van der Merwe (75′)
Cons – N. Hirayama 2 (16′, 28′)
Yellow cards – E. Olmstead (67′)

GLASGOW 12
Tries – G. Bryce (3′), J. Bulumakau (70′)
Cons – S. Wight (71′)
Yellow cards – R. Clegg (37′)

 

TEAMS

CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Benoît Pifféro, 3 Andrew Tiedemann, 4 Evan Olmstead, 5 Jamie Cudmore (capt.), 6 Kyle Gilmour, 7 Nanyak Dala, 8 Richard Thorpe, 9 Phil Mack, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Connor Braid, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 14 Jeff Hassler, 15 Matt Evans

Replacements: 16 Doug Wooldridge, 17 Ray Barkwill, 18 Hubert Buydens, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Aaron Carpenter, 21 Jamie Mackenzie, 22 Liam Underwood, 23 Harry Jones, 24 Brett Beukeboom, 25 Phil Mackenzie

GLASGOW WARRIORS
1 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2 Pat MacArthur, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Kieron Low, 6 Simone Favaro, 7 Chris Fusaro, 8 Josh Strauss, 9 Mike Blair, 10 Rory Clegg, 11 Rory Hughes, 12 Fraser Lyle, 13 Glenn Bryce, 14 Lee Jones, 15 Peter Murchie (capt.)

Replacements: 16 George Hunter, 17 Kevin Bryce, 18 Mike Cusack, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 James Eddie, 21 Will Bordill, 22 Jason Hill, 23 Grayson Hart, 24 Scott Wight, 25 Mark Robertson, 26 Robbie Fergusson, 27 Junior Bulumakau

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Chris Assmus (RC)
Assistants: David Crisp (RC) & Rose LaBrèche (RC)