Coats stars as Canada crush Belgium in Halifax

Canada secured a one-sided 45-0 victory over Belgium at Wanderers Ground in Halifax on Saturday afternoon. The visitors held their own to start the game but faded badly to concede 35 points in the second half. Cooper Coats led the way for the Canadians, scoring one try and two conversions along with several strong runs in front of his home town fans.

The first scoring opportunity went to Canada but a turnover at the breakdown allowed Belgium to escape the danger. From a scrum near midfield Corey Thomas broke from the back and made the gainline. The ball went wide and though the initial attack was stopped, Higgins exploited an undefended short side and scampered down the sideline for a try.

Soon after Coats fielded a long kick ahead in his own 22. He spotted a gap in the chase line and sliced through, running over halfway but only Higgins was in support. A chip ahead resulted in a knock-on and 5-meter scrum to Canada. After one reset it was the Black Devils who pinched it against the head and the visitors cleared their lines.

The Canadian throw-in was skew but Belgium conceded a penalty from the ensuing scrum, and Peter Nelson took the points on offer to make it a 10-nil lead. A long flowing attack from the Belgians followed and after numerous phases Jean-Maurice Decubber burst through a gap but his offload attempt was forward and the chance was lost.

Ben LeSage was singled out for a stamp on the back of Hugo Ruelle at the breakdown and received a yellow card. A couple minutes later Henri Dequenne had a shot at goal from 40 meters out after a tackle infringement, but he pushed his strike just right of the posts. One last attack from the Canadians before halftime fizzled out when Quinn Ngawati’s pass went to ground.

Another break from Coats early in the second half presented a chance for a score. Nelson stabbed a grubber in behind the Belgian defense but Dazzy Cornez beat Kainoa Lloyd to the ball. A mistake from Dequenne, however, handed the ball straight back to Canada. The pressure stayed on until Lucas Rumball crashed over from short range.

The Belgian scrum was repeatedly taken apart by the Canadians. Ross Braude came on for Higgins and immediately made a line break, sprinting up field before connecting with LeSage for an easy try. As both teams began to empty their bench, the visitors looked increasingly disorganized.

It would be all Canada in the final quarter. Coats crossed on the end of an overlap to the delight of the Halifax crowd. Michael Smith would breach the line for the fifth try. The sixth try would got to Kainoa Lloyd, who tossed aside Ruelle to race clear on the end of a cross-kick from Gradyn Bowd.

While the result will be pleasing for the Canadians, a much sterner test will await in Ottawa next weekend where they face Spain. Belgium return home with little to show from their first trip abroad outside of tournament play since 2013.

 

SCORING

CANADA 45
Tries – J. Higgins (6′), L. Rumball (47′), B. LeSage (55′), C. Coats (59′), M. Smith (66′), K. Lloyd (70′)
Cons – P. Nelson 4/4 (7′, 48′, 56′, 60′), C. Coats 2/2 (67′, 71′)
Pens – P. Nelson 1/1 (16′)
YC – B. LeSage (30′)

BELGIUM 0
Pens – H. Dequenne 0/1

 

TEAMS

CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Liam Murray 57′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Lindsey Stevens 57′), 3 Jake Ilnicki (18 Tyler Rowland 48′), 4 Josh Larsen, 5 Conor Keys, 6 Lucas Rumball (capt.) (19 Matthew Oworu 60′), 7 Michael Smith, 8 Corey Thomas (20 Luke Campbell 56′), 9 Jason Higgins (21 Ross Braude 53′), 10 Peter Nelson (22 Gradyn Bowd 66′), 11 Kainoa Lloyd, 12 Quinn Ngawati (23 Dawson Fatoric 53′), 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Brock Webster, 15 Cooper Coats

BELGIUM
1 Bruno Vliegan (17 Lucas Sotteau 45′), 2 Alexis Cuffolo (16 Joachim Piérart 67′), 3 Samuel Opsomer (18 Basile van Parys 48′), 4 Guillaume Mortier (23 Florent Lenaertz 37′), 5 Maximilien Hendrickx, 6 Jean-Maurice Decubber (capt.), 7 Toon Deceuninck (19 Jérémie Brasseur 52′), 8 Michael Abrahams (22 Lucas Rassinfosse 51′), 9 Gauthier Petit (21 Marius Dehoust 56′), 10 Henri Dequenne, 11 Basile Poupaert, 12 Guillaume Piron, 13 Viktor Pazgrat (20 Noé Finfe 56′), 14 Hugo Ruelle, 15 Dazzy Cornez

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & Kahlil Harrison (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)

 

Attendance: 4,412