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Phil Mack will captain Canada for their November test series. The 32-year-old scrumhalf was on Monday confirmed by Kingsley Jones to be his choice to lead the team through their four-match schedule which begins against the New Zealand Māori at BC Place on Friday.
It’s a swift and decisive move from the new Head Coach who has only just arrived on Canadian soil. The captaincy has been unsettled for the past couple years. Tyler Ardron was appointed in November 2013 by then-coach Kieran Crowley but injuries restricted his presence to only 11 games through the World Cup.
Since then the team has not had a consistent leader with Hubert Buydens, Jamie Cudmore, Ray Barkwill, and Gordon McRorie each taking turns. Now-departed coach Mark Anscombe named co-captains in Brett Beukeboom and DTH van der Merwe for the disappointing June series.
Jones said Mack was an obvious candidate in an official release from Rugby Canada.
“It doesn’t mean he will play every game but certainly this coming Friday against the New Zealand Māori at BC Place. What a great honour for him, he thoroughly deserves it. This guy has given a lot to Canadian rugby, both Sevens and XVs. He leads by example and I know that he has the respect of all the players and coaches, whether they are playing overseas, whether they are local, whether they are from the east or the west. For me he is a natural leader and I look forward to working with him.”
It won’t be the first time Mack has captained his country. He led the Senior Men’s Sevens Side for five consecutive seasons starting in 2007 and has been part of the leadership group in every team he has played for since. Earlier this year the James Bay veteran assumed a player-coach role with the CRC Champion BC Bears and has been signed to the same role by the Seattle Seawolves for the 2018 Major League Rugby season.
Mack has won 41 test caps to date for the National Senior Men’s XVs side since making his debut in May 2009. He ended his sevens career in July 2016 after playing in 52 HSBC Sevens Series tournaments and scoring 973 points, second only to long-time teammate Nathan Hirayama.
