Notes from the North

This wasn’t meant to be a weekly column but there’s so much going on we’ll just keep it going for now. It’s been another huge week for Canadian rugby, and this weekend looks just as jam-packed with a massive double-header in Texas a real treat on Saturday night.

Canada looked good against Uruguay, but so did the Eagles against Argentina. On that showing, one would have to give them the edge, but with four top professionals headed back across the pond it just about evens things up. This has all the makings of a classic. To top it off, we get to watch our top prospects do battle immediately following the Americas Rugby Championship match.

U20s SET TO IMPRESS

Canada’s finest young men have been selected and are ready cast their shadow on the Lonestar State. They’ll face their excited Southern counterparts at Dell Diamond and it should have plenty of fireworks. If you want to catch an early glimpse of some of the next big names in Canadian rugby, don’t skip the live stream (details still to follow). Some solid junior teams have left these shores recently but on paper this is the best collection of talent we’ve seen in many years.

The obvious names are the returnees. Captain and fullback Andrew Coe will be a senior cap sooner than most, and France-based tighthead prop Matt Tierney is hard to miss with his enormous frame. Reegan O’Gorman formed a very handy second row combo with new ARC cap Paul Ciulini last year, and the Gingerbeard Man – no8 Luke Bradley – is a top notch ball carrier.

Of the new faces, flankers Peter Milazzo and Nakai Penny come highly rated, and there looks to be a healthy battle between Ontario’s Mitch Richardson and Robbie Povey of Northampton Saints Academy for the no10 shirt. The most-hyped is surely George Barton, an 18-year-old battleship of a centre currently playing at Clermont Academy.

The All-Americans have some promising talent as well – flanker Hanco Germishuys and halfbacks Louis Mulholland and Ben Cima are already on the senior depth chart. Zach Haley is a reportedly a heavy hitter at hooker, and there are couple big athletes out wide in Lorenzo Thomas and Deion Mikesell.

It’s a winner-take-all match, loser miss out on the trip to Zimbabwe, so it promises to be a cracking game of rugby following up on the exciting look of the curtain-raiser. Some of these players will be at RWC 2019, you can put money on that.

ONCE BITTEN, TWICE… SIGNED?

Jebb Sinclair has had an eventful couple of weeks. He re-upped with London Irish for a further two years, and then helped the club to a big win over Worcester on the weekend, but not without controversy. Sinclair got more than he bargained for when he cleared big Fijian lock Tevita Cavubati out from a ruck. Caught in a bad position and reportedly unable to breathe, the Worcester forward bit Sinclair on the chest, which the Canadian then pointed out to referee Wayne Barnes.

Unfortunately Barnesy had little time for poor old Jebb, and play continued with no action taken on the field. After the match, however, the ‘love bite’ on Sinclair’s chest was clear for all to see, as evidenced by the arousing photo in the official judicial report that you can see here. Cavubati has been suspended for nine weeks, and Jebb might have to get a booster shot.

On a happier note, he’ll have his East Coast amigo Ciaran Hearn around for another season, after the Newfoundlander signed a one-year extension with the Exiles this week. Maybe it’s time we all got together and started a new club. London Canadians anyone?

OLD SCHOOL RATIER

There is a trend in rugby these days to use the whole bench, with substitutions often pre-ordained to keep it ‘fresh’ or perhaps for player management reasons. Canada made only two substitutes during the match on Saturday, a number basically unheard of in test rugby. Coach François had this to say when queried by Patrick Johnston of the Province, sounding somewhat bemused:

“We were fine. The important part is to win, not to put the bench on the field. It’s 15-on-15. We want to win. We will use the best players available every game. It could be the same for the whole tournament.”

That should be music to the ears of old timers who remember when subs were allowed only in the case of injury. It should also quell any potential accusations of ‘cheap’ caps being handed out. After so much inconsistency in selection from game-to-game in recent years, Ratier’s old school mentality seems like a breath of fresh air.

McRORIE AVAILABLE FOR AWAY GAMES

Some good news on the Wolf Pack front, Gordon McRorie has in the past week been granted permanent residency in the land of igloos and polar bears, and is now available to travel with the team outside of the country. Combined with Monsieur Ratier’s comments above, it’s likely we’ll see a very similar lineup for the game in Houston, if not an identical one.

In 2015, Canada averaged just under nine changes per game, with a low of three and a high of 13, and that’s not counting the reserves. Of course rugby is an attritional game and injuries make it very difficult for any team, willing or not, to field the same team every week. For trivia’s sake, when’s the last time Canada put identical rosters on the team sheet in consecutive test matches?

Try RWC 2011, September 14 against Tonga and September 18 against France.

7s TEAM REBOUNDS

Liam Middleton must be breathing a sigh of relief after his charges came through the last day of the Sydney 7s in fine fettle. The biggest win was over Samoa, who certainly looked tired but a win’s a win, and we’ll take some confidence any way we can at this point. Harry Jones and Adam Zaruba had strong weekends, as did the tournament’s leading points scorer Nathan Hirayama.

Middleton’s tenure as head coach hasn’t been all roses thus far and while the Bowl win offers some brief respite there’s no telling what the powers-that-be at headquarters are thinking. He and his team will now be under enormous pressure to get things right in Las Vegas and especially Vancouver.

Canada are in Pool D in Vegas, along with South Africa, Wales, and guess who… the USA. Mike Friday will be giving his men a beasting between now and then after their sub-par performance in Sydney, and you can be absolutely certain he’ll have them frothing on home soil. That match is going to be a doozy.

VANCOUVER TOURNEY SETS RECORD

More from Mr. Johnston, his latest piece talks about the success of ticket sales for the upcoming Vancouver 7s in March. In fact sales are going so well, the event’s top executive Bill Cooper is already claiming a new Canadian rugby attendance record – four weeks away from the tournament. That’s great news for all involved, and wouldn’t it be something if Vancouver put on a better show than Wellington…

Lastly, for those who missed it, last week’s Try & Tackle Podcast guest-starring yours truly is up and ready for your listening amusement. Please excuse the raspy voice.