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Mike Sheppard has been ruled out of Canada’s final match of the Rugby World Cup against Namibia on Sunday. The Toronto Arrows lock suffered a concussion near the end of the game against South Africa on Tuesday. He has been replaced by Castaway Wanderers back row Dustin Dobravsky.
While the selection of Dobravsky is not entirely a surprise given his presence in the wider training group and Americas Rugby Championship squad, it is a curious decision not to call a second row replacement given a lack of available resources. Josh Larsen has been cited for his red card and is set to be suspended, while Kyle Baillie left the game in the 12th minute having not fully recovered from his knee injury sustained in the final warm-up match against the USA. Evan Olmstead is also nursing a foot problem.
Dobravsky has won 8 caps since his debut in February 2018, four of them starts. A blindside flanker or No8, the 27-year-old was born and raised in Germany and captained their u18 squad before opting to move to Canada, whom he qualifies for through his mother. He has also represented Canada internationally in sevens.
