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Never say never. Canada’s all-time leading points scorer James Pritchard will play in his fourth World Cup after all. The fullback has been called out of short-lived retirement into the World Cup squad as a replacement for injury-stricken Liam Underwood, who damaged a knee in the 75th minute of the Ireland game in Cardiff.
The move leaves Canada with only one specialist flyhalf, though Connor Braid, Harry Jones, and Matt Evans all have significant test experience in the position. Both Jones and Evans are themselves under an injury cloud, with Jones taking a knock to the shoulder against Fiji in the warm-up matches and Evans coming off at the half against Ireland following a heavy collision with Keith Earls.
Pritchard was a surprise omission from the 35-man World Cup training squad named following the Pacific Nations Cup, and announced his retirement from from test rugby shortly afterwards. He made his test debut in 2003, and surpassed Gareth Rees as Canada’s leading points scorer in 2013. With 607 points in his 61 international appearances he is 22nd on the all-time international scoring list. He will join up with the squad immediately from his Greene King IPA Championship club Bedford Blues.
