Canada West roster named for Halifax tournament

A Canada West Selects roster of 28 players has been named to compete in the upcoming Coast To Coast Cup. The round-robin tournament will be played in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the Toronto Arrows Academy and Atlantic Selects also taking part.

Pacific Pride coach Phil Mack will lead the West side, assisted by Hubert Buydens, Curry Hitchborn, and Cristian Esterhuizen. Jamie Cudmore is at the helm of the Atlantic selection while the Cory Hector directs the Arrows Academy.

Many of the West roster appeared in the inaugural Coastal Cup played in BC, and more recently the BC Premier League. There are ten members of the centralized Pride program included. The squad was selected from 46 trialists split into Island and Mainland squads against the American Raptors a week ago.

Flyhalf Gradyn Bowd is the only full international named, with former Houston SaberCats scrumhalf Crosby Stewart also traveling. UBC lock Izzak Kelly attended the Senior Men’s High Performance camp along with Stewart in November of 2020.

Second row Reid Davis and center or fullback Gabe Casey each represented Canada at the 2018 and 2019 World Rugby u20 Trophy events that took place in Romania and Brazil respectively. Halfback Owen Brombal played for the u20s at the tournament hosted by Portugal in 2015.

There are also four players born abroad. Lock Alistair Bruce and flyhalf or fullback Max Stewart hail from South Africa. Mike Moloney, also a flyhalf or fullback, has played professionally for Melbourne Rising in Australia. Hooker Jesse Mackail moved to Canada from New Zealand in 2019.

The three-game tournament begins on Saturday at Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, with the other two games at Graves-Oakley park. All three will be streamed live on The Rugby Network.

FORWARDS
Dan Cooper (Pacific Pride), Spencer Cooper (Vancouver Rowing Club), Willem den Ouden (Pacific Pride), Favour Olaniyan (Trinity Western Spartans), Kyle Steeves (Manitoba Wombats), Jacob Bossi (UBC Thunderbirds), Jesse Mackail (UBC Old Boys), Alistair Bruce (Pacific Pride), Reid Davis (Bayside), Izzak Kelly (UBC Thunderbirds), Callum Botchar (Pacific Pride), Jalan Farris (Meralomas), Alex Jordan (James Bay), Matt Klimchuk (Pacific Pride), Zephyr Melnyk (Pacific Pride), Cody Nhanala (Pacific Pride)

BACKS
Jacob Bourne (UBC Thunderbirds), Owen Brombal (James Bay), Crosby Stewart (James Bay), Gradyn Bowd (Castaway Wanderers), Max Stewart (Pacific Pride), Connor Byron (UBC Thunderbirds), Gabe Casey (UVic Vikes), Dawson Fatoric (Pacific Pride), Johnny Franklin (Capilano), Talon McMullin (Bayside), Jack Morris (Pacific Pride), Mike Moloney (Capilano)

FIXTURES

Atlantic Selects vs Arrows Academy
Wanderers Grounds, Halifax
Sat, May 28, 19:30 local (15:30 Pacific, 18:30 Eastern)

Canada West Selects vs Arrows Academy
Graves-Oakley Park, Halifax
Tues, May 31, 18:00 local (14:00 Pacific, 17:00 Eastern)

Atlantic Selects vs Canada West Selects
Graves-Oakley Park, Halifax
Sat, June 4, 16:00 local (12:00 Pacific, 15:00 Eastern)