Ardron back to lead Canada against Italy

Tyler Ardron has recovered from a knee injury in time to lead Canada against Italy in their critical Pool D match this Saturday at Elland Road. The Ospreys no8 is one of six changes to the run-on side that fell to Ireland on Saturday, with two more new faces on the bench.

Jebb Sinclair comes into the second row to reprise his 2011 combination with Jamie Cudmore, while Nanyak Dala takes the place of Kyle Gilmour on the flank, with the latter taking up Richard Thorpe’s spot among the reserves. Ardron’s return relegates Aaron Carpenter to the bench as hooker cover, with Benoit Piffero dropping out of the match day squad. Brett Beukeboom is also absent, with Evan Olmstead taking up residency as a second row replacement.

Gordon McRorie loses out at scrumhalf and it’s Jamie Mackenzie who gets the no9 shirt, only his third career test start, with Phil Mack retained as an impact sub. Connor Braid replaces Nick Blevins in the midfield, and a calf injury to Jeff Hassler means a second Mackenzie brother, Phil, runs out on the right wing. Both Matt Evans and Harry Jones have been passed fit to play after struggling with injury. Jones takes the place of Liam Underwood who has dropped out of the tournament with a knee injury, replaced in the squad by James Pritchard.

Canada have played Italy seven times since 1983, winning twice, the last time in 2000. The Canucks have dropped four straight to the Azzurri, including a 25-16 defeat in Toronto in 2012. Both sides enter the game having lost their opening World Cup match, and with automatic qualification for the 2019 tournament on the line, the contest becomes vitally important for the final makeup of Pool D.

CANADA
1 Hubert Buydens 2 Ray Barkwill 3 Doug Wooldridge 4 Jebb Sinclair 5 Jamie Cudmore 6 Nanyak Dala 7 John Moonlight 8 Tyler Ardron (capt.) 9 Jamie Mackenzie 10 Nathan Hirayama 11 DTH Van Der Merwe 12 Connor Braid 13 Ciaran Hearn 14 Phil Mackenzie 15 Matt Evans

16 Aaron Carpenter 17 Djustice Sears-Duru 18 Andrew Tiedemann 19 Evan Olmstead 20 Kyle Gilmour 21 Phil Mack 22 Conor Trainor 23 Harry Jones