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Canada will play their penultimate Rugby World Cup warm-up match against a BC All-Star XV on Friday night in Langford. The All-Star side is comprised of BC Premier League standouts with a handful of import players included and a number of provincial and national age-grade representatives.
The All-Star XV was to feature Brock Staller, overlooked by Kingsley Jones for the Canadian squad despite leading Major League Rugby in scoring, but the Seattle Seawolves star is a late withdrawal from the contest taking a bit of bite out of the All-Star selection. Canada u20 flyer Elias Ergas is another notable who drops out.
Burnaby Lake prop Bryce Worden and abrasive UBC flanker Owain Ruttan will be among those looking to impress in the forwards. Hooker Tom Larder and both second rows Dan Wigley and Mike Finnemore all hail from England, Wigley the tall timber in the lineout at 2m (6’7″).
Former Canada ‘A’ select Adam McQueen steers the backs division from flyhalf and there is an interesting selection as former Canada u20 No8 Luke Bradley lines up at inside centre. If nothing else he will provide a stern physical challenge for the Canadian midfield.
Jones has named a largely second-string side with several players who missed out on the Pacific Nations Cup getting one last chance to impress. Andrew Quattrin starts at hooker with Arrows teammate Mike Sheppard handed the captaincy. Seawolves openside Nakai Penny looks to be on the outside looking in at the moment but could give Jones food for thought with a big performance.
Similarly Shane O’Leary has been stymied by the coach despite his good club form and a decent showing against the odds in the Fiji match. Conor Trainor is finally given a run in his preferred outside centre spot, and there is an intriguing back three in Andrew Coe, Jeff Hassler, and Theo Sauder.
Kickoff is set for 6:30pm local time, 9:30pm Eastern. A live stream will be available on the BC Rugby site.
CANADA
1 Rob Brouwer, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Cole Keith, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Josh Larsen, 6 Justin Blanchet, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Luke Campbell, 9 Jamie Mackenzie, 10 Shane O’Leary, 11 Andrew Coe, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Conor Trainor, 14 Jeff Hassler, 15 Theo Sauder
Replacements: 16 Benoît Pifféro, 17 Noah Barker, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Conor Keys, 20 Dustin Dobravsky, 21 Matt Heaton, 22 Travis Larsen, 23 Phil Mack, 24 Kainoa Lloyd, 25 Doug Fraser, 26 Will Kelly
BC ALL-STAR XV
1 John Braddock, 2 Tom Larder, 3 Bryce Worden, 4 Dan Wigley, 5 Mike Finnemore, 6 Owain Ruttan, 7 Cole Mosychuk, 8 Nathan Stewart, 9 Reid Watkins, 10 Adam McQueen, 11 Brandon Schellenberger, 12 Luke Bradley, 13 Colby Mason, 14 Johnny Franklin, 15 Blake Mahovic
Replacements: 16 Harrison Smith, 17 Nick Frost, 18 Neil Courtney, 19 Brian Moylett, 20 Connor McCann, 21 Michael Smith, 22 Fraser Hurst, 23 Stephen Gillies
Date: Friday, August 30
Venue: Westhills Stadium, Langford
Kickoff: 18:30 local (21:30 Eastern)
Broadcasts: Live Stream
