Canada look south for ARC reinforcements

Canada have called up six players for the North American leg of the Americas Rugby Championship. Among them are three uncapped forwards, two of whom are products of New Zealand rugby.

A new name to Canadian fans is 26-year-old hooker Jordan Olsen. Born and raised in Whangarei, he qualifies for Canada thanks to a Canadian parent. Olsen has been a regular in Northland’s Mitre 10 Cup side for the past five seasons, starting five matches in 2018. He was also part of the Blues extended training squad last season.

Travis Larsen follows brother Josh into the senior squad. The 27-year-old has started all four matches at No8 for Austin Elite in Major League Rugby and replaces the injured Luke Campbell on the roster. Travis won’t be playing alongside Josh in a Canada shirt just yet though as the younger Larsen will stay with Austin for the rest of the competition.

Also returning to their club sides are props Djustice Sears-Duru and Matt Tierney and midfielder Ben LeSage. Ray Barkwill has dropped out of the squad with injury. The veteran hooker traveled to South America with the team but did not see game time.

The other uncapped addition is James Bay prop Liam Murray. A graduate of Canada’s age-grade program, Murray played loosehead alongside Cole Keith in the 2017 World Rugby u20 Trophy competition but has been playing tighthead as of late. He was the only Canadian player in the World Rugby Americas Selects side that played against Glendale in October.

World Cup hooker Benoît Pifféro arrives from France while 50-cap loosehead prop Hubert Buydens bolsters the scrum having been a standout recently with MLR-leading NOLA Gold. Fit again to play flyhalf is Repechage starter Gordon McRorie. With new cap Will Kelly also in the squad, Patrick Parfrey could provide cover at fullback with Theo Sauder named but short of full fitness.

Canada will play back-to-back games in Langford against Chile and the Argentina XV before taking the short trip to Seattle to play the US Eagles in the final around of the ARC. The are currently in 5th place on the table after defeats to both Uruguay and Brazil.

FORWARDS
Noah Barker (Glendale Raptors, US), Hubert Buydens (NOLA Gold, US), Cole Keith (Toronto Arrows), Ryan Kotlewski (Westshore), Liam Murray (James Bay), Eric Howard (NOLA Gold, US), Jordan Olsen (Northland Taniwha, NZ), Benoît Pifféro (Blagnac, FR), Kyle Baillie (NOLA Gold, US), Conor Keys (Rotherham Titans, UK), Mike Sheppard (Toronto Arrows), Justin Blanchet (Bedford Blues, UK), Dustin Dobravsky (Castaway Wanderers), Travis Larsen (Austin Elite, US), Nakai Penny (Seattle Seawolves, US), Lucas Rumball (Toronto Arrows)

BACKS
Jamie Mackenzie (Toronto Arrows), Will Percillier (Stade Français, FR), Will Kelly (Dragons, UK), Gordon McRorie (Calgary Hornets), Nick Blevins (Calgary Hornets), Guiseppe du Toit (Toronto Arrows), Doug Fraser (Austin Elite, US), Ciaran Hearn (London Irish, UK), Andrew Coe (Markham Irish), Kainoa Lloyd (Toronto Arrows), Patrick Parfrey (Swilers), Theo Sauder (Toronto Arrows)