van der Merwe leads Canada against Romania

DTH van der Merwe will lead Canada against Romania on Saturday. The Scarlets winger captains for the first time in a side that shows three changes from the team that played Ireland in Dublin. Admir Cejvanovic replaces the injured Aaron Carpenter at no8, with Matt Heaton to win his first test start at no7 in place of Lucas Rumball. The midfield features debutante Ben LeSage, with the Wolf Pack standout taking the place of Ciaran Hearn at inside centre.

Three further changes are made on the bench. Conor Keys steps in for Cejvanovic to cover second row, Ryan Kotlewski replaces Matt Tierney as reserve tighthead prop, and Clay Panga is named as a loose forward replacement.

Canada have not beaten Romania since their 1995 World Cup win in Port Elizabeth, dropping all four matches since. Their last meeting was a 17-15 defeat at Leicester in October during the 2015 World Cup. Kickoff is set for 6pm local time, 11am Eastern, 8am Pacific. Streaming details are still to be confirmed.

CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru 2 Ray Barkwill 3 Jake Ilnicki 4 Brett Beukeboom 5 Evan Olmstead 6 Kyle Baillie 7 Matt Heaton 8 Admir Cejvanovic 9 Gordon McRorie 10 Connor Braid 11 Taylor Paris 12 Ben LeSage 13 Conor Trainor 14 DTH van der Merwe (capt.) 15 Matt Evans

16 Eric Howard 17 Rob Brouwer 18 Ryan Kotlewski 19 Conor Keys 20 Clay Panga 21 Phil Mack 22 Patrick Parfrey 23 Ciaran Hearn