Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The second of the home-and-away exhibition series between the Canada Selects and the Ontario Arrows takes place on Saturday afternoon at Westhills Stadium in Langford. Last weekend’s match saw the Selects take a 19-0 victory but the scoreline flattered the winners somewhat with two Arrows tries waved off that might well have passed TMO inspection.
With the June tests now just two weeks away it’s last-chance saloon for any players who hope to catch the eyes of the Canadian selectors. It’s also the last game currently scheduled for the Arrows before they make their decision on whether to formally apply for inclusion in Major League Rugby‘s 2019 season.
A surprising result of the first game was Canada’s dominance in the scrum. That improved with the arrival of Clint Lemkus to the Ontario front row and the South African will get the start this time around, while Tom van Horne replaces brother Josh in the second row.
The backs show two changes and a couple positional switches. Shawn Windsor starts in his preferred flyhalf position in the absence of Will Kelly, with Aaron McLelland returning to his preferred fullback from the wing. Kyle Lagasca fills the vacancy on the left wing and Mitch Richardson comes in for Jon West at outside centre.
PEI native Alex Forrest is named on the bench in his first Arrows appearance since starting at tighthead prop against Glendale in September. Former Canada u20 lock Dillon Goos is set to make his Arrows debut as a replacement. Cooper Coats and Josh Campbell return to the match day squad and Josh Thiel is loaned from the Selects with the two sides agreeing on extended benches to give more players opportunities.
Noah Barker was among those who impressed in the Canadian scrum and he returns at loosehead prop but with two new starters beside him in the front row. Steven Ng takes over the No2 jersey from Martial Lagain and Ryan Kotlewski swaps shirts with Cole Keith. One change in the back row sees Matt Heaton starting in place of Dustin Dobravsky on the flank.
The backs also show three changes, all straight swaps. Gordon McRorie continues to get a look at flyhalf and he will have familiar faces in Prairie Wolf Pack teammates Nick Blevins and Ben LeSage outside him in the midfield. Cole Davis makes it four Calgary residents in the backline and one up front in Kotlewski.
An interesting experiment sees Grant Crowell set to make his representative debut at hooker having played as a No8 both with the Wolf Pack and for the Selects last week. Liam Chisholm joins the squad as lock cover, and UBC playmaker Theo Sauder is named on the bench, capable of slotting in at flyhalf or the back three. Former Thunderbirds teammate and Canada Sevens cap Karsten Leitner is certain to make an appearance on the wing.
Another physical match can be expected but the conditions should give the game a very different complexion. The backs didn’t get much of a chance to stretch their legs on a choppy field in Toronto but the Westhills turf and wider playing surface should make for ideal attacking conditions.
The Arrows found greatest success when they stretched the Canadian defense and Windsor is an attack-minded flyhalf who can challenge the line or free his outside backs. With Lemkus starting the scrum should be more competitive to allow for more strike plays from the set piece.
Canada meanwhile have imported the first-choice midfield from the World Cup Qualifiers and the Heaton-Rumball combination on the flank could well be employed in the test series. The inexperience at hooker and McRorie experiment at flyhalf are less convincing but on paper this is still a team that should win. If the Arrows can pull off the upset the post-game selection meeting might be worth selling tickets to.
A Men’s u20 warm-up game against a Fraser Valley u23 select side will act as a curtain raiser, kickoff at 2:30pm local. The main event will be live streamed on Rugby Canada’s Facebook page and is set for a 5pm start local time, 8pm Eastern. Admission is free for both matches.
CANADA SELECTS
1 Noah Barker, 2 Steven Ng, 3 Ryan Kotlewski, 4 Paul Ciulini, 5 Conor Keys, 6 Matt Heaton, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Luke Campbell, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Gordon McRorie, 11 Kainoa Lloyd, 12 Nick Blevins, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Cole Davis, 15 Patrick Parfrey
Replacements: 16 Grant Crowell, 17 Liam Murray, 18 Cole Keith, 19 Liam Chisholm, 20 Dustin Dobravsky, 21 Robbie Povey, 22 Theo Sauder, 23 Guiseppe du Toit, 24 Karsten Leitner, 25 Doug Fraser
ONTARIO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer, 2 Alex Post, 3 Clint Lemkus, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Tom van Horne, 6 Marcello Wainwright, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Kolby Francis, 9 Alex Gliksten, 10 Shawn Windsor, 11 Kyle Lagasca, 12 Jamie Leveridge, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Johnny Sheridan, 15 Aaron McLelland
Replacements: 16 Cam Sandison, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 Alex Forrest, 19 Dillon Goos, 20 Travis Larsen, 21 Mario van der Westhuizen, 22 Cooper Coats, 23 Josh Campbell, 24 Josh Thiel
Date: Saturday, May 26
Venue: Westhills Stadium, Langford
Kickoff: 17:00 local (20:00 Eastern)
Broadcasts: Facebook
