Three new caps for Canada against Chile

Ollie Nott will make his test debut for Canada against Chile in the second round of the Americas Rugby Championship on Saturday. It could be a frosty one for the 21-year-old openside flanker, with weather in Langford still an issue after the appalling conditions suffered by the players last weekend’s match with the Argentina XV. Nott is one of five changes made to the side by head coach Mark Anscombe, with two others set to win their first caps for their country.

Second row Conor Keys and midfielder Guiseppe du Toit will be officially sworn in as internationals after both appeared in the uncapped match against Argentina. Keys was also an unused replacement in the tests against Romania and Samoa in November. Another first sees Matt Tierney handed his first test start after impressing in his senior run-on debut last weekend.

Joining Tierney in the front row are Djustice Sears-Duru and Benoît Pifféro. They replace Rob Brouwer and Eric Howard, respectively, while Nott takes the place of Clay Panga in a reshuffled back row. Lucas Rumball moves to blindside flanker and Admir Cejvanovic shifts to his favored no8 position.

A change at flyhalf sees Gradyn Bowd return for the first time since last year’s ARC, with Robbie Povey swapped to the bench. Brock Staller starts at fullback with du Toit and Nick Blevins partnered in the midfield. Povey is one of five uncapped players on the bench. Cole Keith, Reegan O’Gorman, Matt Beukeboom, and George Barton are all set to win their first test caps should they take the field.

CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Benoît Pifféro, 3 Matt Tierney, 4 Conor Keys, 5 Liam Chisholm, 6 Lucas Rumball, 7 Ollie Nott, 8 Admir Cejvanovic, 9 Gordon McRorie (capt.), 10 Gradyn Bowd, 11 Taylor Paris, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Nick Blevins, 14 Dan Moor, 15 Brock Staller

Replacements: 16 Eric Howard, 17 Rob Brouwer, 18 Cole Keith, 19 Reegan O’Gorman, 20 Matt Beukeboom, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Robbie Povey, 23 George Barton