Restoring A Canadian Classic – The East vs West Match

In just a few hours New Zealand will revive an old tradition – the North vs South Island trial match. Similar ideas are not uncommon in rugby, one example being the ‘Probables vs Possibles’ contest held by Wales as recently as 2014. England, Ireland, and Australia have all held such matches though they have been long since abandoned.

The concept is now being mooted for a return in Canadian rugby circles – East vs West. Whereas the scale and landscape of USA Rugby makes it difficult to clearly define regions on such terms, there is an established geographical division in Canada that allows for natural battle lines to be drawn.

Both the Rugby Canada Super League and Canadian Rugby Championship incorporated the concept. In the RCSL the Western Conference ran from the edge of the Prairies in Manitoba westward to Vancouver Island. The Eastern Conference was comprised of teams from Ontario eastward to St. John’s. The CRC was a regional version with two teams in the West – the BC Bears and Prairie Wolf Pack – and two in the East – the Ontario Blues and the Atlantic Rock.

 

HISTORICAL RESULTS

In fact Canada East and Canada West existed in competitive form from 2006-2008 as part of the ‘North America 4’, aka NA4. The USA teams entered were the USA Hawks and USA Falcons, representative sides not defined by geography. Canada’s East team would face off against the West on five occasions across those three years, the results as follows:

2006-05-24 – West 28-28 East (Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver, BC)
2006-07-26 – West 18-34 East (Fred Beekman Park, Columbus, OH, USA)
2007-04-07 – West 26-24 East (Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver, BC)
2008-05-17 – West 20-15 East (Fletcher’s Fields, Markham, ON)
2008-07-29 – West 30-26 East (Infinity Park, Glendale, CO, USA)

The immediate situation regarding COVID-19 and the effective closure of the USA-Canada border adds fuel to the demand for the old-fashioned contest. There simply aren’t any alternatives at the moment, though it’s understood the Toronto Arrows are exploring the possibility of playing exhibition games within Canada before the year’s end. A second Major League Rugby franchise – ideally in Vancouver – might render this concept redundant but as things stand the East-West idea appears one worth pursuing.

 

SELECTION CRITERIA

Presuming the match could be arranged – largely dependent on which province would allow the contest – what might the teams look like? In the spirit of New Zealand’s effort we present these hypothetical rosters. Before the unveiling and individual selection explanation, we must first identify our guidelines and constraints:

1. No overseas-based professionals will be considered. Given the current international travel restrictions in place and the extreme unlikelihood that players would be released outside of the test window, only those current based in North American are eligible for selection.
2. All players have emerged – at some point – through one of four selection streams: a) MLR, b) Canada Sevens, c) Pacific Pride, or d) Canada u20. In many cases players have been involved in multiple high performance teams. Those with MLR contracts are given priority.
3. All players are under the age of 30. As the intent for such a match – coastal pride aside – is to be used as a trial match for test consideration, we are opting only to include players who are likely to be in the frame for potential Rugby World Cup 2023 selection. This age constraint is both easily identifiable and also serves a secondary purpose – it spares us from making even more tough decisions! Among those who miss out as a result are Mike Sheppard, Jamie Mackenzie, and Ciaran Hearn in the East, and the likes of Nate Hirayama, Connor Braid, and Conor Trainor in the West.
4. Players are aligned as closely as possible to the CRC or provincial team they have represented. Where they have not played either they are aligned based on their home province.
5. Selections are to follow as closely as possible previously established depth charts.

 

CANADA EAST

Our first order of business is to identify the senior coaches. Our ideal combination is Québec’s François Ratier – former Head Coach of both Men’s and Women’s senior national teams – and Ontario’s Chris Silverthorn – current Head Coach of the Toronto Arrows. We’ll let them pick their own support staff.

The starting team largely picks itself. There is room for debate at hooker and we have sided with Eric Howard slightly ahead of Andrew Quattrin based on seniority. In the absence of Tyler Ardron we’ve opted for the versatile Kyle Baillie at No8.

With most of Canada’s top center options hailing from Western Canada, we have adopted Spencer Jones as an honorary ‘Eastie’. By rights Jones might best be assigned to the Wests having been born in Vancouver and spending a season in the BC Premier League. Having been raised in New Zealand, however, and now residing in Toronto, we feel this is only a minor exception.

It should be noted that both wingers who are currently involved with the Canada Sevens program have suited up for the Arrows, Kainoa Lloyd during the 2019 season and Andrew Coe in exhibition matches. Both were part of the RWC 2019 team.

Deciding a captain was not straightforward – all three starting loose forwards and indeed Howard as well have captained their MLR sides. Patrick Parfrey was also considered, but again we will cede to experience in Lucas Rumball who has led Canada in six test matches.

##	NAME	TEAM	CRC
1	Djustice Sears-Duru	Seattle Seawolves	Ontario Blues
2	Eric Howard	NOLA Gold	Ontario Blues
3	Cole Keith	Toronto Arrows	Atlantic Rock
4	Conor Keys	Rugby ATL	Atlantic Rock
5	Paul Ciulini	Toronto Arrows	Ontario Blues
6	Lucas Rumball (c)	Toronto Arrows	Ontario Blues
7	Matt Heaton	Rugby ATL	Atlantic Rock
8	Kyle Baillie	NOLA Gold	Atlantic Rock
9	Andrew Ferguson	Toronto Arrows	Ontario Blues
10	Will Kelly	Toronto Arrows	Ontario Blues
11	Kainoa Lloyd	Canada Sevens	Ontario Blues
12	Spencer Jones	Toronto Arrows	–
13	Mitch Richardson	Toronto Arrows	Ontario Blues
14	Andrew Coe	Canada Sevens	Ontario Blues
15	Patrick Parfrey	Toronto Arrows	Atlantic Rock

The reserve forwards were reasonably obvious with the exception of the back row. Austin flanker Moe Abdelmonem, an Atlantic Rock standout from Halifax, would make the side on an extended bench but with two opensides already on the pitch we opted for a ball carrying option in Matt Mullins. Currently with the Sevens side, Mullins has played No8 for the Arrows in exhibition matches.

Both Cooper Coats and Josiah Morra can make the same claim (and indeed Abdelmonem), with Brock Webster and Johnny Sheridan narrowly missing out. We expect all of those sevens players mentioned to pursue professional contracts following the Tokyo Olympics.

There is a second exception in the reserves. Canadian-eligible scrumhalf Jason Higgins recently signed on with the Arrows. With Riley DiNardo (who has played for both Ontario and BC) set to focus on academics this coming season we have included the Irish-born Higgins in the East side. He played opposite the Blues in 2016 while on tour with Cork Constitution.

16	Andrew Quattrin	Toronto Arrows	Ontario Blues
17	Pat Lynott	Toronto Arrows	Ontario Blues
18	Tyler Rowland	Toronto Arrows	Ontario Blues
19	Adrian Wadden	Toronto Arrows	Ontario Blues
20	Matt Mullins	Canada Sevens	Ontario Blues
21	Jason Higgins	Toronto Arrows	–
22	Cooper Coats	Canada Sevens	Atlantic Rock
23	Josiah Morra	Canada Sevens	Ontario Blues

 

CANADA WEST

Coaching the ‘Wests’ are two names familiar to the national set-up. Alberta’s Graeme Moffat, also a long-time coach of the Prairie Wolf Pack, and BC’s Jamie Cudmore, currently at the helm of the Pacific Pride. Again there are a number of candidates for them to nominate for their supporting cadre.

The forwards have an MLR feel to them but require some explanation. Noah Barker spent the 2019 season with the Glendale Raptors but after narrowly missing out on RWC 2019 selection he did not play in 2020, and has reportedly turned down overtures for 2021. At only 28 we feel he still has much to offer so have used our powers of persuasion to lure him back into the fold.

Steven Ng hails from Ontario but actually lined up for the Bears in the CRC so fits our criteria nicely at a position where the West is currently short on experience. The locks have played the bulk of their rugby in New Zealand but are both BC-born. Reegan O’Gorman, we can reveal, is set to join an MLR team in the coming season so is not considered an overseas player.

Two notable absentees in the back row are World Cup selects Dustin Dobravsky and Luke Campbell, the latter also boasting MLR experience with the Arrows. With neither signed for the 2020 or 2021 seasons we have sided with options who remain in high performance environments.

James O’Neill’s quality is not up for debate so we are comfortable with his inclusion though it remains to be seen whether he takes up an MLR contract. Jorden Sandover-Best is another from BC club rugby who will not take up an MLR contract due to work commitments but would surely be one of the first additions to a Vancouver pro team.

There are a plethora of options available in the BC three-quarter line, but again we have opted to keep in line with international selections. Guiseppe du Toit and Ben LeSage would have the opportunity to go head-to-head with their Arrows teammates in the midfield, while Theo Sauder’s Arrows experience makes him an easy choice at fullback.

LeSage and the young but mature O’Neill were considered for the captaincy, so too Jake Ilnicki who has captained Canada at age-grade level. In the end Larsen’s recent experience leading the Free Jacks was most relevant, so he gets the nod.

##	NAME	TEAM	CRC
1	Noah Barker	James Bay	BC Bears
2	Steven Ng	Toronto Arrows	BC Bears
3	Jake Ilnicki	Seattle Seawolves	BC Bears
4	Reegan O’Gorman	tba (MLR)	–
5	Josh Larsen (c)	New England Free Jacks	–
6	Nakai Penny	Seattle Seawolves	BC Bears
7	James O’Neill	UVic Vikes	Prairie Wolf Pack
8	Travis Larsen	Old Glory DC	BC Bears
9	Jorden Sandover-Best	UBCOB Ravens	BC Bears
10	Robbie Povey	Houston SaberCats	Prairie Wolf Pack
11	Jeff Hassler	Seattle Seawolves	Prairie Wolf Pack
12	Guiseppe du Toit	Toronto Arrows	BC Bears
13	Ben LeSage	Toronto Arrows	Prairie Wolf Pack
14	Brock Staller	Seattle Seawolves	BC Bears
15	Theo Sauder	Canada Sevens	BC Bears

The bench has a very youthful feel to it. Connor Sampson and Liam Murray’s rise to the professional ranks looks inevitable, with the same feeling for UBC lock Frank Carson. All were standouts at u20 level, as was Jake Thiel. The latter recently posted a highlight reel on social media, perhaps a subtle hint that MLR could yet be calling in 2021? If not his time will come post-Tokyo.

Pride scrumhalf Crosby Stewart is another who could potentially make the the jump to the pros, while Josh Thiel has already secured his place in San Diego. His versatility is preferred on the bench to the specialist flyhalf option of Adam McQueen. Doug Fraser covers outside center and wing and in truth perhaps that versatility earmarks him for a reserve role.

Missing out is some serious talent. George Barton is a potential test starter in our eyes but his allegiance to BC puts him at a disadvantage using our criteria. Quinn Ngawati and Ciaran Breen are top prospects on the rise, and when you add in names like Karsten Leitner, Justin Douglas, Cole Davis, Anton Ngongo… the Wests have backs coming out their ears.

16	Connor Sampson	UBC Thunderbirds	BC Bears
17	Liam Murray	Pacific Pride	BC Bears
18	Nik Hildebrand	Houston SaberCats	BC Bears
19	Frank Carson	UBC Thunderbirds	BC Bears
20	Jake Thiel	Canada Sevens	BC Bears
21	Crosby Stewart	Pacific Pride	BC Bears
22	Josh Thiel	San Diego Legion	BC Bears
23	Doug Fraser	Old Glory DC	BC Bears

 

CONCLUSION

Even absent a number of top players on overseas deals – and the 30+ crowd due to our ageist selection policy – there is more than enough talent to make this a compelling fixture. On paper the Easts have a fearsome pack, but the West-side attacking flair can’t be overlooked. One day the annual Vancouver vs Toronto MLR contest will generate a similar appeal. Until then, this could be just the ticket to help welcome the sport back into a post-lockdown Canada.