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Canada will close out their Pacific Four tournament against Australia on Friday evening in Auckland. They’ll be looking to put their disappointing shutout loss to New Zealand behind them, the result dropping them to No4 in the World Rankings behind France.
Kévin Rouet is beginning to show his hand for the World Cup though some spots remain up for grabs. There are four personnel changes from the lineup that faced the Black Ferns and one positional switch.
Abby Duguid is handed her first test start at lock in place of injured Loughborough clubmate Courtney Holtkamp. Exeter flanker Gabrielle Senft starts on the blindside with Pamphinette Buisa shifting to openside and Sara Svoboda dropping to a bench that shows a 6/2 split. Laura Russell returns as backup hooker while Saracens prop Alex Ellis and ex-Saracens lock Emma Taylor make their first appearances of the tournament.
Justine Pelletier takes over from Brianna Miller at scrumhalf, though the latter retains a spot in the match day squad. Alysha Corrigan runs out on the right wing in place of Renee Gonzalez. The backs are otherwise unchanged with Maddy Grant the only three-quarter replacement.
The Wallaroos mounted a late comeback but were unable to turn over the Eagles last weekend. They have rotated their squad with four players incoming and three switches.
Most notable are first test starts for blindside flanker Piper Duck, scrumhalf Layne Morgan, and inside center Cecilia Smith. Uncapped loose forward Grace Kemp is set to make her Australia debut as a replacement. Openside flanker Shannon Parry continues as captain.
Each of their three previous meetings has ended with a convincing win for the Canadians. Rain could be a factor at kickoff as it was in the opening round. Canada’s lineup boasts more than twice as many caps as the Australians. That experience makes the Maple Leafs strong favorites to beat the Wallaroos.
Kickoff is set for 6:30pm Pacific, 9:30pm Eastern. Those in Canada can watch on TSN’s digital services, with World Rugby providing a live stream for viewers abroad.
AUSTRALIA
1 Liz Patu, 2 Ashley Marsters, 3 Bridie O’Gorman, 4 Michaele Leonard, 5 Kaitlan Leaney, 6 Piper Duck, 7 Shannon Parry (capt.), 8 Grace Hamilton, 9 Layne Morgan, 10 Arabella McKenzie, 11 Lori Cramer, 12 Cecilia Smith, 13 Georgina Friedrichs, 14 Jemima McCalman, 15 Pauline Piliae-Rasabale
Replacements: 16 Tiarna Molloy, 17 Madison Schuck, 18 Eva Karpani, 19 Sera Naiqama, 20 Grace Kemp, 21 Iliseva Batibasaga, 22 Trilleen Pomare, 23 Mahalia Murphy
CANADA
1 Olivia DeMerchant, 2 Emily Tuttosi, 3 DaLeaka Menin, 4 Tyson Beukeboom, 5 Abby Duguid, 6 Gabrielle Senft, 7 Pamphinette Buisa, 8 Sophie de Goede (capt.), 9 Justine Pelletier, 10 Taylor Perry, 11 Paige Farries, 12 Alex Tessier, 13 Sara Kaljuvee, 14 Alysha Corrigan, 15 Elissa Alarie
Replacements: 16 Laura Russell, 17 Brittany Kassil, 18 Alex Ellis, 19 Emma Taylor, 20 McKinley Hunt, 21 Sara Svoboda, 22 Brianna Miller, 23 Maddy Grant
Date: Friday, June 17 (Saturday, June 18 local)
Venue: The Trusts Arena, Auckland
Kickoff: 18:30 Pacific, 21:30 Eastern (Saturday, 13:30 local)
Referee: Lauren Jenner (New Zealand)
Assistants: Sara Cox (England) & Maggie Cogger-Orr (New Zealand)
TMO: Lee Jeffrey (New Zealand)
Broadcasts: TSN Digital, World Rugby website, YouTube
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2017-08-26 – Australia 12, Canada 43 (Belfast)
2017-06-17 – Australia 5, Canada 45 (Rotorua)
2014-06-06 – Australia 0, Canada 22 (Tauranga)
