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After working out the kinks in Wednesday’s warm-up match that saw the Atlantic Rock defeat the Prairie Wolf Pack by 33-29, the two sides will face off for real on Saturday evening when they compete for third place in the Canadian Rugby Championships. The MacTier Cup might not be on offer but there are still spots available on the Canada ‘A’ trip to Uruguay for the Americas Pacific Challenge in October and of course bragging rights are no laughing matter on a Saturday night in Calgary.
The Rock have restored their side to the one that started in the 20-13 loss to the Bears on Sunday. One change in the pack sees Moe Abdelmonem preferred to Liam Carter at openside flanker. Graham Barry steps in for the injured Tony Pomroy at scrumhalf, and Paddy McNicholas arrives in time to see his first action of the CRC on the wing. Brett Johnson continues at fullback and Cooper Coats moves to the wing.
Robbie Povey has earned another start in the No 10 shirt for the Wolf Pack as he gets the nod ahead of fellow international Gradyn Bowd. Evan Thomas will start on the wing and Adam Bontus makes his fourth successive start with no sign of Nick Blevins on the match day roster. Up front it’s the same pack that lined up against the Blues on Sunday with the exception of hooker where Casey Reed is given the start and Robert Blunden switched to the bench.
The majority of players will be nursing various bumps and bruises as they head into their third match of the week, but the right mix of pride, adrenaline, and a little tape can work wonders when required. Expect this to be a significant step up in ferocity from Wednesday’s trial run with the Wolf Pack desperate to win on home soil and the Rock eager to end their season with an even win-loss record.
Kickoff at Calgary Rugby Park is set for 5pm local time, 4pm Pacific, 7pm Eastern. A live stream will be available on Rugby Canada’s Facebook page and on Spalk.
ATLANTIC ROCK
1 Alex Forrest, 2 Martial Lagain, 3 Jordon Power, 4 Jon Phelan, 5 Brad Lester, 6 Conor Keys, 7 Moe Abdelmonem, 8 Mike Hamson, 9 Graham Barry, 10 Patrick Parfrey (capt.), 11 Cooper Coats, 12 Emil Sehic, 13 Charles DeBove, 14 Paddy McNicholas, 15 Brett Johnson
Replacements: 16 Owen Parfrey, 17 Frank Walsh, 18 Jake Chahwan, 19 Liam Carter, 20 Carson O’Sullivan, 21 Adam Paul, 22 Colin Alexander, 23 Jack McCarthy
PRAIRIE WOLF PACK
1 Hubert Buydens, 2 Casey Reed, 3 Ryan Kotlewski, 4 Conor Turner, 5 Riley Fahlman, 6 Lucas Albornoz, 7 Kyle Gilmour (capt.), 8 Jeremy Kyne, 9 Jake Robinson, 10 Robbie Povey, 11 Evan Thomas, 12 Adam Bontus, 13 Mozac Samson, 14 Jake Bentley, 15 Carl Pocock
Replacements: 16 Robert Blunden, 17 Peter Houlihan, 18 Nick McAuley, 19 Kyle Morrison, 20 Wayde Hodgen, 20 Gradyn Bowd, 22 Cam Hall, 23 Brandon Baker
Current standings, scoring leaders, and detailed roster lists can be seen here.
