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In the second of the North American double on Wednesday, Canada face New Zealand in a Pool B match at Oita. The Canadians are in tough as they are coming off a heavy defeat against Italy, while the All Blacks got the win over South Africa on the second day of the tournament.
Kingsley Jones has named a side with six changes to the run-on side, half of them in the forwards. There are new props in Djustice Sears-Duru and Cole Keith, while Evan Olmstead has recovered sufficiently from a foot injury to take his place in the second row. Lucas Rumball has shaken off a fractured finger but switches to the blindside flank as Matt Heaton gets the call at openside.
Injuries have seen both starting midfielders from the Italy match – Nick Blevins and Ben LeSage – return home. The new center pairing is Ciaran Hearn and Conor Trainor, while there are three new faces on the bench. Andrew Quattrin is set to make his RWC debut, as is winger Taylor Paris. Phil Mack takes over the reserve halfback role.
It’s all change for the All Blacks, with six changes to the pack and five in the backs. Crusaders pair Scott Barrett and captain Kieran Read are the only forwards retained with first choice stars Sam Whitelock and Ardie Savea left on the bench. Openside flanker Matt Todd will be looking to make a statement after being left out of the 23 to face the Springboks.
TJ Perenara gets the call at scrumhalf and there is an imposing midfield duo named in Sonny Bill Williams and Jack Goodhue. Rieko Ioane was another who missed out against South Africa who will be looking to make a big impact, while Jordie Barrett is named on the right wing to make it three brothers in the side.
International competition between the two countries dates back to 1980 though in terms of test matches it began at RWC 1991. The first capped international between the sides was a World Cup Quarter Final in Lille, France, with New Zealand winning 29-13. Their most recent fixture was at RWC 2011 where the All Blacks won 79-15 in Wellington.
One look at the rankings shows that this is the world’s best team against the second-lowest in the competition. The gulf in class is simply undeniable. Canada will put on a brave face but can only mitigate the inevitable. New Zealand enter as favorites to win by 60 points.
CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Eric Howard, 3 Cole Keith, 4 Evan Olmstead, 5 Conor Keys, 6 Lucas Rumball, 7 Matt Heaton, 8 Tyler Ardron (capt.), 9 Gordon McRorie, 10 Peter Nelson, 11 DTH Van Der Merwe, 12 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Conor Trainor, 14 Jeff Hassler, 15 Patrick Parfrey
Replacements: 16 Andrew Quattrin, 17 Hubert Buydens, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Mike Sheppard, 20 Josh Larsen, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Taylor Paris, 23 Andrew Coe
NEW ZEALAND
1 Atu Moli, 2 Liam Coltman, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 4 Patrick Tu’ipulotu, 5 Scott Barrett, 6 Shannon Frizell, 7 Matt Todd, 8 Kieran Read (capt.), 9 TJ Perenara, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 11 Rieko Ioane, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 13 Jack Goodhue, 14 Jordie Barrett, 15 Beauden Barrett
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Ryan Crotty, 23 Ben Smith
Date: Wednesday, October 2
Kick-Off: 19:15 local (03:15 Pacific, 06:15 Eastern, 07:15 Rio de la Plata)
Venue: Oita Stadium, Oita
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistants: Paul Gaüzère (France) & Alex Ruiz (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Broadcasts: ESPN 3 (Latin / South America), NBC Sports Gold (USA), TSN 1/4 (Canada)
