Planet Rugby Forum

Apparently the squad will be announced tomorrow at 11 mountain time. RC said to watch their facebook page, so not sure if it will be live streamed or just an article upload.

Think there will be any surprises?

1 consistent rumour is that Cudmore will play this summer as a swan song and help us to qualify for RWC 2019.

* No Cudmore and no Sinclair - massive loss of physicality down the spine of the team
* No Piffero - going with two hookers and one of them is having a torrid time in the scrum
* Lack of depth at lock means Ardron and Baillie might have to play there, something we do not want
* Buydens the fifth prop even though he has not played in a year and is coming off major knee surgery
* No Phil Mackenzie - need to bring in a full-time medical student, who has not played on the NSMT in years, at wing
* Rugby Canada's decision to make 7s the dominant program at the national level means the immediate above

- McRorie, O'Leary, Braid to be at 9, 10, 12 to have three kickers on the field and to compensate Coe's lack of a boot (at this time) at FB

Brouwer
Barkwill
Ilnicki
Beukeboom
Olmstead
Baillie
Heaton
Ardron
McRorie
O'Leary
DTH
Braid
Hearn
Trainor
Coe

Canada names rugby squad for June test
TORONTO — Former World Cup captain Tyler Ardron, who recently signed with New Zealand's Chiefs, heads Canada's 32-man squad for its June test matches and World Cup qualifying series with the U.S.

The 23rd-ranked Canadian men open against No. 12 Georgia on June 10 in Calgary. Coach Mark Anscombe will then cut the roster to 26 for the June 17 match against No. 16 Romania in Edmonton.

Canada then heads to Ontario for the first leg of its World Cup qualifier against the 17th-ranked U.S. Eagles on June 24 at Hamilton's Tim Hortons Field. The return leg is July 1 in San Diego.

"This summer we've got different types of games: the first two in Alberta against Georgia and Romania, two big, physical teams, where we're going to have to take care of our ball and play to our strengths," Anscombe said in a release.


"And then the two games against the US. are obviously hugely important as we look to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. We want to be on the front foot when we go down to San Diego and we know the public support across Canada, and especially in Alberta and Hamilton, will be a massive boost for us."

Anscombe is expected to name his captain Monday.

His squad includes former skippers Ardron, Ray Barkwill, Hubert Buydens, Aaron Carpenter and DTH van der Merwe.

Former sevens star Sean Duke, who last played test rugby for Canada in 2014, also returns.

Taylor Paris, who recently moved to Castres in the Top 14 in France, will join the team after the Alberta leg of the four-match series.

The squad also includes former under-20 player Shane O'Leary, who has experience with PRO 12 side Connacht. O'Leary and Toronto's Andrew Coe are the only uncapped players in the squad.

"We're starting to get depth in a number of positions so there's some competitions for starting spots and guys can't rely on what they've done in the past, rather they're being measured and selected on what they're doing right now," said Anscombe.

Canada and the U.S. are vying to become Americas 1, which has been drawn in a 2019 Rugby World Cup pool with England, France, Argentina and Oceania 2.

The series loser has two more chances to make the World Cup, first via a playoff with atop South American team and then via a world repechage,

———

Canada

Tyler Ardron, Chiefs (New Zealand), Lakefield, Ont.; Kyle Baillie, Westshore RFC, Summerside, P.E.I.; Ray Barkwill, Castaway Wanderers, Niagara Falls, Ont.; Brett Beukeboom , Cornish Pirates (England), Lindsay, Ont.; Nick Blevins, Calgary Hornets, Calgary; Gradyn Bowd, UVIC Vikes, Red Deer, Alta.; Connor Braid, James Bay AA, Victoria; Rob Brouwer, Lindsay RFC, Lindsay, Ont., Hubert Buydens, Saskatoon Wild Oats, Saskatoon; Aaron Carpenter, Doncaster Knights (England), Brantford, Ont.; Admir Cejvanovic, Burnaby Lake RFC, Burnaby, B.C.; Liam Chisholm, UVIC Vikes, Kenora, Ont.; Andrew Coe, UBC Thunderbirds, Toronto; Guiseppe Du Toit, UVIC Vikes, Maple Ridge, B.C.; Sean Duke, UBC Thunderbirds, Vancouver; Andrew Ferguson, Oakville Crusaders, Mississauga, Ont.; Ciaran Hearn, London Irish (England), Conception Bay South, N.L.; Matt Heaton, Darlington Mowden Park England) Godmanchester, Que.; Eric Howard, Brantford Harlequins, Ottawa; Jake Ilnicki, Northampton (England), Williams Lake, B.C.; Conor Keys, UVIC Vike, Stittsville, Ont.; Phil Mack, James Bay AA, Victoria; Gordon McRorie, UBC Old Boys Ravens, Calgary; Dan Moor, Balmy Beach RFC, Toronto; Shane O'Leary, unattached, Cork, Ireland; Evan Olmstead, Newcastle Falcons (England), Vancouver; Taylor Paris, Castres (France), Barrie, Ont.; Lucas Rumball, Balmy Beach RFC, Toronto; Djustice Sears-Duru, Glasgow Warriors, Oakville, Ont.; Matt Tierney, Section Paloise (France), Oakville, Ont.; Conor Trainor, RC Vannes (France) Vancouver; DTH van der Merwe, Newcastle Falcons (England), Victoria.

By The Canadian Press

canuckles wrote:* No Cudmore and no Sinclair - massive loss of physicality down the spine of the team
* No Piffero - going with two hookers and one of them is having a torrid time in the scrum
* Lack of depth at lock means Ardron and Baillie might have to play there, something we do not want
* Buydens the fifth prop even though he has not played in a year and is coming off major knee surgery
* No Phil Mackenzie - need to bring in a full-time medical student, who has not played on the NSMT in years, at wing
* Rugby Canada's decision to make 7s the dominant program at the national level means the immediate above

- McRorie, O'Leary, Braid to be at 9, 10, 12 to have three kickers on the field and to compensate Coe's lack of a boot (at this time) at FB

Brouwer
Barkwill
Ilnicki
Beukeboom
Olmstead
Baillie
Heaton
Ardron
McRorie
O'Leary
DTH
Braid
Hearn
Trainor
Coe

I pretty much would agree with that line up for the Alberta tests.

For the WC qualifiers against U.S., I think we would see:

Brouwer
Barkwill
Ilnicki
Beukeboom
Olmstead
Baillie
Heaton
Ardron
McRorie
O'Leary
DTH
Braid
Trainor
Paris
Coe

We are going to really miss the physicality of Sinclair and Cudmore. I thought Cudmore would return for a swansong and apparently Sinclair ruled himself out for this summer.

canuckles wrote:* No Cudmore and no Sinclair - massive loss of physicality down the spine of the team
* No Piffero - going with two hookers and one of them is having a torrid time in the scrum
* Lack of depth at lock means Ardron and Baillie might have to play there, something we do not want
* Buydens the fifth prop even though he has not played in a year and is coming off major knee surgery
* No Phil Mackenzie - need to bring in a full-time medical student, who has not played on the NSMT in years, at wing
* Rugby Canada's decision to make 7s the dominant program at the national level means the immediate above

- McRorie, O'Leary, Braid to be at 9, 10, 12 to have three kickers on the field and to compensate Coe's lack of a boot (at this time) at FB

Brouwer
Barkwill
Ilnicki
Beukeboom
Olmstead
Baillie
Heaton
Ardron
McRorie
O'Leary
DTH
Braid
Hearn
Trainor
Coe

Canada names rugby squad for June test
TORONTO — Former World Cup captain Tyler Ardron, who recently signed with New Zealand's Chiefs, heads Canada's 32-man squad for its June test matches and World Cup qualifying series with the U.S.

The 23rd-ranked Canadian men open against No. 12 Georgia on June 10 in Calgary. Coach Mark Anscombe will then cut the roster to 26 for the June 17 match against No. 16 Romania in Edmonton.

Canada then heads to Ontario for the first leg of its World Cup qualifier against the 17th-ranked U.S. Eagles on June 24 at Hamilton's Tim Hortons Field. The return leg is July 1 in San Diego.

"This summer we've got different types of games: the first two in Alberta against Georgia and Romania, two big, physical teams, where we're going to have to take care of our ball and play to our strengths," Anscombe said in a release.


"And then the two games against the US. are obviously hugely important as we look to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. We want to be on the front foot when we go down to San Diego and we know the public support across Canada, and especially in Alberta and Hamilton, will be a massive boost for us."

Anscombe is expected to name his captain Monday.

His squad includes former skippers Ardron, Ray Barkwill, Hubert Buydens, Aaron Carpenter and DTH van der Merwe.

Former sevens star Sean Duke, who last played test rugby for Canada in 2014, also returns.

Taylor Paris, who recently moved to Castres in the Top 14 in France, will join the team after the Alberta leg of the four-match series.

The squad also includes former under-20 player Shane O'Leary, who has experience with PRO 12 side Connacht. O'Leary and Toronto's Andrew Coe are the only uncapped players in the squad.

"We're starting to get depth in a number of positions so there's some competitions for starting spots and guys can't rely on what they've done in the past, rather they're being measured and selected on what they're doing right now," said Anscombe.

Canada and the U.S. are vying to become Americas 1, which has been drawn in a 2019 Rugby World Cup pool with England, France, Argentina and Oceania 2.

The series loser has two more chances to make the World Cup, first via a playoff with atop South American team and then via a world repechage,

———

Canada

Tyler Ardron, Chiefs (New Zealand), Lakefield, Ont.; Kyle Baillie, Westshore RFC, Summerside, P.E.I.; Ray Barkwill, Castaway Wanderers, Niagara Falls, Ont.; Brett Beukeboom , Cornish Pirates (England), Lindsay, Ont.; Nick Blevins, Calgary Hornets, Calgary; Gradyn Bowd, UVIC Vikes, Red Deer, Alta.; Connor Braid, James Bay AA, Victoria; Rob Brouwer, Lindsay RFC, Lindsay, Ont., Hubert Buydens, Saskatoon Wild Oats, Saskatoon; Aaron Carpenter, Doncaster Knights (England), Brantford, Ont.; Admir Cejvanovic, Burnaby Lake RFC, Burnaby, B.C.; Liam Chisholm, UVIC Vikes, Kenora, Ont.; Andrew Coe, UBC Thunderbirds, Toronto; Guiseppe Du Toit, UVIC Vikes, Maple Ridge, B.C.; Sean Duke, UBC Thunderbirds, Vancouver; Andrew Ferguson, Oakville Crusaders, Mississauga, Ont.; Ciaran Hearn, London Irish (England), Conception Bay South, N.L.; Matt Heaton, Darlington Mowden Park England) Godmanchester, Que.; Eric Howard, Brantford Harlequins, Ottawa; Jake Ilnicki, Northampton (England), Williams Lake, B.C.; Conor Keys, UVIC Vike, Stittsville, Ont.; Phil Mack, James Bay AA, Victoria; Gordon McRorie, UBC Old Boys Ravens, Calgary; Dan Moor, Balmy Beach RFC, Toronto; Shane O'Leary, unattached, Cork, Ireland; Evan Olmstead, Newcastle Falcons (England), Vancouver; Taylor Paris, Castres (France), Barrie, Ont.; Lucas Rumball, Balmy Beach RFC, Toronto; Djustice Sears-Duru, Glasgow Warriors, Oakville, Ont.; Matt Tierney, Section Paloise (France), Oakville, Ont.; Conor Trainor, RC Vannes (France) Vancouver; DTH van der Merwe, Newcastle Falcons (England), Victoria.

By The Canadian Press

This makes me happy.

Great kid.

canuckles wrote:* No Cudmore and no Sinclair - massive loss of physicality down the spine of the team
* No Piffero - going with two hookers and one of them is having a torrid time in the scrum
* Lack of depth at lock means Ardron and Baillie might have to play there, something we do not want
* Buydens the fifth prop even though he has not played in a year and is coming off major knee surgery
* No Phil Mackenzie - need to bring in a full-time medical student, who has not played on the NSMT in years, at wing
* Rugby Canada's decision to make 7s the dominant program at the national level means the immediate above
- McRorie, O'Leary, Braid to be at 9, 10, 12 to have three kickers on the field and to compensate Coe's lack of a boot (at this time) at FB

Piffero is there. RC communications screwed up. He should start ahead of Barkwill. Not sure he will though.

Still hoping Cudmore shows up in Hamilton. Makes no sense that he would hang them up just a couple weeks before the big games when the team needs him most, especially with Jebb unavailable.

Buydens selection tells you how desperate we are at prop and how shit the player pathway is. i.e. it doesn't exist.

Mackenzie bros are retired. Duke is a weird selection but at the end of the day is unlikely to play.

Hope Ferguson can displace McRorie or at least put enough pressure on him to up his game.

When is Hassler due back? Out of curiosity.

ogrelord wrote:

canuckles wrote:* No Cudmore and no Sinclair - massive loss of physicality down the spine of the team
* No Piffero - going with two hookers and one of them is having a torrid time in the scrum
* Lack of depth at lock means Ardron and Baillie might have to play there, something we do not want
* Buydens the fifth prop even though he has not played in a year and is coming off major knee surgery
* No Phil Mackenzie - need to bring in a full-time medical student, who has not played on the NSMT in years, at wing
* Rugby Canada's decision to make 7s the dominant program at the national level means the immediate above
- McRorie, O'Leary, Braid to be at 9, 10, 12 to have three kickers on the field and to compensate Coe's lack of a boot (at this time) at FB

Piffero is there. RC communications screwed up. He should start ahead of Barkwill. Not sure he will though.

(Ha, saw that. RC read my post and realized, "We forgot Benny." There is no need to thank me, guys.)

Still hoping Cudmore shows up in Hamilton. Makes no sense that he would hang them up just a couple weeks before the big games when the team needs him most, especially with Jebb unavailable.

(RC needs Cudmore but he does not need it. Anscombe brings in Brown ... I am getting bad vibes about RC and Cuddles, but it could be me.)

Buydens selection tells you how desperate we are at prop and how shit the player pathway is. i.e. it doesn't exist.

(I have been following Buydens for a LONG time. I love the prairie dog, but, jeez, what a decision.)

Mackenzie bros are retired. Duke is a weird selection but at the end of the day is unlikely to play.

(The Mackenzie boys are too young and too good to retire! What does it say about the state of our senior rugby? The Toronto league team should sign Phil.)

Hope Ferguson can displace McRorie or at least put enough pressure on him to up his game.

(The Scot will no longer have to handle place kicking. He will be fine.)

Morgan14 wrote:When is Hassler due back? Out of curiosity.

Not soon enough.

I miss both Mackenzie Bros. Always rated both of them.

Morgan14 wrote:When is Hassler due back? Out of curiosity.

What CanNZ said.

Seriously though, should be back in the fall for the Pro 12 season.

Can we all just pretend the game today never actually happened?

I have no idea what CanNZ did to piss off the Gods, but the weather yesterday was shocking. The weather folks on Friday evening (sunny and warm) said rain on Saturday, but not that much %&*()_% rain, with wind, but not that much !@#$%^& wind, and cooler, but not that (*&^%$# cold! It is probably sunny and warm in Cowtown this morning.

The game was a mess, cannot blame the players. But I will mention two things:

O'Leary's kicking from hand was excellent.
Carpenter came on at the start of the second half and was a huge improvement at #8 over Cejvanovic. It sure helps to have an 8 man who knows what he is doing at the base of a scrum.

Ladies could have done better against the Black Ferns. Kiwi commentators and halftime interview with Ferns' fullback was telling: set piece issues from the fall still persist, Kiwis knew pods and tip on passes major part of the game plan, and that they we can't kick to clear our own red zone. (Harvey's wonder try in last WRWC came because France expected a kick, but none are good at it so they run everything out.) Ferns met them up front and stripped a lot of ball. Passing poor in general. It's disappointing to see no progress from the fall given the quality athletes they have. On paper, they have the best team in my mind, but Kiwis and English are executing better. Tuesday's game versus England will be the last pre tournament chance to set a mark because the Aussies are not much more than good club level.

ogrelord wrote:
Can we all just pretend the game today never actually happened?

Man, that weather just sucked balls. Georgia are a better team imho, so I was looking forward to the match, but the weather just made it a sh*tshow for both teams, nothing positive really for either team.

And the facebook feed is just embarrassing. It was awful. Yet I tried to stick to it, made it to 50 min before I just couldn't take it anymore

Nieghorn wrote:On paper, they have the best team in my mind, but Kiwis and English are executing better.

England also have a very good team. NZ seem to have a psychological advantage and do the basics well. In terms of star power there's really only a handful I would take in the Canadian side but jeez our girls need to put it all together for once. Far too many mistakes from players who are capable of so much more.

Romania next, in Edmonton. Hopefully the weather is a little more cooperative.

Is this one televised? Or is it facebook again?

They're traveling from Japan, where the scoreline doesn't seem too bad (21-33); how much of an issue might that be? Hopefully we can avenge the World Cup defeat from almost 2 years ago and the loss in the autumn

Morgan14 wrote:Romania next, in Edmonton. Hopefully the weather is a little more cooperative.

Is this one televised? Or is it facebook again?

They're traveling from Japan, where the scoreline doesn't seem too bad (21-33); how much of an issue might that be? Hopefully we can avenge the World Cup defeat from almost 2 years ago and the loss in the autumn

We need our first team on the field for Romania. We will likely come off second best at the scrum, again. Lineouts are different. If Ardron, Olmstead and Baillie play, they give us three legit lineout options. Control the lineouts and we can get a bit of first phase ball and momentum going.

This summer for me is about O'Leary taking the #10 shirt and Coe at #15. O'Leary will be just fine. Coe survived his first Test. Weather-wise he will not likely see poorer conditions. The last thing Canadian rugby needs is for Coe to go the 7s route. I think he is a big leaguer, but Rugby Canada is daft enough to waste him in 7s.

canuckles wrote: We need our first team on the field for Romania. We will likely come off second best at the scrum, again. Lineouts are different. If Ardron, Olmstead and Baillie play, they give us three legit lineout options. Control the lineouts and we can get a bit of first phase ball and momentum going.

Agree 100%.

canuckles wrote: This summer for me is about O'Leary taking the #10 shirt and Coe at #15.

Yes, within the context of qualifying for the world cup. That's what this summer is all about, even though I think we're destined for the repechage route.

Ladies lost to England 20-27. Haven't seen the match, but this is a wonderful try from England's wing ... cuts through about seven of our ladies, making some great players look a bit average.

https://twitter.com/WomRugbyComp/status ... 7883182080

that's a shame they lost again! Not what i was hoping for, that's for sure.

Morgan14 wrote:that's a shame they lost again! Not what i was hoping for, that's for sure.

I'd say they improved over last game, though there were still a fair number of not-straights at lineout time. I think Tessier gets the ball moving better at 10 than Belchos and seems to be a better kicker (not as great as England's McLean who put in a 40+ meter one that bounced in and rolled into touch 5m from the line). Tried some kicks that mixed things up a bit, but need to evaluate those as some would have been more effective as grubbers and others should have gone at all as they had huge overlaps begging for hands instead.

They'll probably roll Australia, but hopefully this tour will have taught them some lessons.

A very enjoyable evening at Ellerslie for the first of the U20 qualifiers. Canada 46 USA 12 at FT. Some thoughts:

Canada's pack was excellent. The front row of Murray, Kotze and Keith was outstanding at the scrum. The scrum lost a bit of bite when Murray came off at the half. Our back row was solid and so, too, were our lineouts. Our kicking from hand was very good. The backline offered little in the first forty even with our dominance at the scrum. The backs were able to do more damage in the second half. We lost Barton and one of our wingers late in the first half to a nasty head clash (the Yanks were able to score their second try when we were two men down). Hurst at #9 won MOTM.

Cole Keith was a man amongst young men. For me he was the best player on the field and is a prop of enormous potential. He is one tough Maritimer. He took a head knock early in the game and after a concussion check came back on and did not miss a beat.

Jake Thiel was very good and already has the nous of a #8. On a couple of occasions he was a bit hasty at the base and should have let the scrum continue to go forward.

Keith and Jake Thiel are blue-chip pro prospects.

McMullan shows good potential in the backline. He showed speed, vision and a boot from FB.

Cole Davis, the third Albertan on the squad, came on late in the first half. He displayed decent speed at wing and already has the physique of a professional rugger.

For the Yanks, their #13 will be a pain in the ass for Canada in the future. He is way ahead of the curve for a North American U20 player. The Yank #6 was good; the best of their forwards with a high work rate. He came off late with what appeared to be a groin problem. Their fullback is a nifty bugger, undersized but quick and creative.

Canada's big boys and coaching staff were on hand to cheer on our young men. It was good to see. There was also a decent sized crowd.

Canada has 34 points in the bag with a game to go on Saturday.

canuckles wrote:
Cole Davis, the third Albertan on the squad, came on late in the first half. He displayed decent speed at wing and already has the physique of a professional rugger.

Is this the 'aint that went down to Aussie?

hornets wrote:

canuckles wrote:
Cole Davis, the third Albertan on the squad, came on late in the first half. He displayed decent speed at wing and already has the physique of a professional rugger.

Is this the 'aint that went down to Aussie?

That's him. The three Alberta boys (Kotze, O'Neill, Davis) played well. O'Neill was a hungry #7.

canuckles wrote: Canada's pack was excellent. The front row of Murray, Kotze and Keith was outstanding at the scrum. The scrum lost a bit of bite when Murray came off at the half.
The backline offered little in the first forty even with our dominance at the scrum.
Cole Keith was a man amongst young men. For me he was the best player on the field and is a prop of enormous potential.
Hurst at #9 won MOTM.
Jake Thiel was very good and already has the nous of a #8.
Cole Davis, the third Albertan on the squad, came on late in the first half. He displayed decent speed at wing and already has the physique of a professional rugger.
For the Yanks, their #13 will be a pain in the ass for Canada in the future. He is way ahead of the curve for a North American U20 player. The Yank #6 was good; the best of their forwards with a high work rate. He came off late with what appeared to be a groin problem. Their fullback is a nifty bugger, undersized but quick and creative.

Scrum lost a little but Sampson is better in the loose than Murray. Nice to have three players who actually look like props versus the Yanks who clearly didn't belong there.

The midfield balance was all wrong. Barton is not a 13. He and Josh Thiel are the same player, heavyweight line breaking 12. When Barton went off and McMullan moved up it changed dramatically. Don't think McMullan is a long-term 13. I would like to see Barton at 12 on Saturday with possibly Ngawati at 13.

Cole Keith and Malon Al-Jiboori were noticeably better than the rest. Both should be senior tourists in November.

Couldn't understand Hurst getting MotM to be honest. He was ok but nothing amazing IMO.

Not completely sold on Jake Thiel yet but he does look good. An upgrade from Luke Bradley. Looks to have more about him than his brother.

Why didn't Davis start? He was an absolute tank on the wing. The Yanks looked terrified every time he touched the ball.

Lorenzo Thomas is the 13, he's already got a couple senior ARC caps. I thought he had a poor game. He is capable of much more when he decided to take the ball on. Al-Jiboori was the 6. Man of the match before he went off. Rodriguez the fullback was very impressive but is destined for 7s at his size.

O'Neill (7) and Currie (6) had a big impact at the breakdown but not sure they have the size to make the jump. Ditto the other lock Doll who is a couple inches shorter than Beukeboom. Good engine but too small for senior level. Kotze looked handy at hooker, as did his replacement Ng. Kelly had a good game minus his goal kicking which needs a lot of practice.

Enjoyed the U 20 match. Saw a few handling errors for sure but that is pretty normal for a NA U 20 match.
Thought the kicking from hand worked well . Long kicks to the corner worked well.
Goal kicking was weak.

Thought the organization on defense was pretty solid. USA had a great 12 from what i saw.

Scrums and lineouts were really strong so some great going forward ball.

Enjoyed the game. Great result for Canada even though Canada probably left at least 10-12 pts on the field with a held up try and missed a few makeable kicks...

NIce to see representation and contributions from CDN players from all provinces across the country. Very encouraging.

Great to see John Thiels 2 sons playing.. I did manage to play a bit of summer rugby back in the day with John and he had tremendous skills . Those boys have a mom and dad both former rugby Canada players so of course they have been brought up well in the game.

A BIG to Aaron Carpenter, who will be Canada's new cap leader when he starts at #8 for Canada this Saturday.


Player to set new Canadian rugby games-played record in Edmonton

BY TERRY JONES, EDMONTON SUN

It’s one of those worthy sports events that can get lost on the calendar — an international rugby test match between Canada and Romania Saturday at Ellerslie Rugby Park.

At midafternoon Thursday, however, it officially became more than a game. It became an occasion.

On Saturday, the all-time national record for international appearances previously owned by Al Charron will be broken when Aaron Carpenter starts for Canada.

Religiously sticking to the rule of releasing their starting lineup exactly 48 hours prior to game time, Canada announced the starting line-up at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Aaron Carpenter’s name was listed. It will be his 77th cap.

Charron, a massive man and personality for Canada during his career, played 76 and in four Rugby World Cups — 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003.

The six-foot-five Charron will be on the property to mark the occasion, as he was Thursday as the team chose to practice at Commonwealth Stadium while the soggy field recovered at Ellerslie.

To many people close to the sport in this country, this probably represents a sad and not totally fair day. Charron, who has a set of hands so big he wouldn’t need a glove to catch a knuckleball, has long been Canada’s iconic rugby player. And back in his day, test matches were about as frequent as finding rugby players who didn’t drink the odd keg of beer.

While the record for most international caps ever belongs to Richie McCaw of New Zealand with 148, Charron’s 76 were viewed as rather remarkable considering he did it for Canada.

“I’d like to think this is pretty significant for Aaron,” said Ottawa product Charron, who now works for Rugby Canada doing fund-raising, goodwill ambassador appearances, alumni relations and an assortment of other roles.

“I’ve held this record since I retired after my final World Cup in Australia. I’m not really sure when I broke it or where I broke it.

“Maybe we didn’t play as many test matches back then as they do today, but you can’t play as many as Aaron has played without being a player. There’s amazing competition in the back-row position in this country, so he had to beat down challenges, beat down selections and beat down injuries to amass that many games.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to play once for your country, but to get up to 77 and beyond is a testament to him. I consider it to have been such an honour to have been chosen so many times to represent Canada I get choked up talking about it, to tell you the truth."

Charron lists his highlight as getting to the World Cup quarterfinal against New Zealand in the 1991 World Cup held in Great Britain.

“The two best games we played in that World Cup were probably the two that we lost. We should have defeated France. I’m not saying we should have defeated New Zealand, but we outscored them in the second half.”

Carpenter is rather overwhelmed he’s going to become Canada’s most capped international rugby player Saturday.

“I’m just really proud it could happen to me,” said the 34-year-old Brantford, Ont. native. "Al did it in a different time. That’s why I think his feat is a lot more impressive than mine. He played a lot longer than I have so far. He’s a legend. Just to be mentioned in the same breath as him is huge."

Carpenter, who plays pro for Doncaster Knights in England, has played in three World Cups and has a goal of matching Charron’s four.

“To play to age 36 would be a stretch," he said. "That’s the next World Cup. Hopefully, I can make it that long. I’d really like four World Cups under my belt. That would be awesome."

Carpenter receiving his 77th cap may not be the only occasion of note in the test match against Romania. South African born D.T.H. van der Merwe goes into the game one try away from equaling the all-time Canadian try scoring record of 24 set by Victoria’s Winston Stanley.

Also, Saturday’s game will mark the return of Tyler Andron, who has been out with injury since the 2015 World Cup. Andron recently became only the third Canadian after Christian Stewart and Jebb Sinclair to sign a Super Rugby contract with the Chiefs in New Zealand.

What would really make it an occasion would be if they all combined to give Canada a win. The team has lost the last four to Romania, including a heartbreaking 17-15 last-minute defeat to make their exit from the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

E-mail: tjones@postmedia.com

Congratulations to Carpenter, he's certainly been around for a while and given his all.


haven't seen much pre-match talk about this one (here or elsewhere). Forecast looks perfect though, hopefully that helps our guys


A win would be really, really nice

Morgan14 wrote:Congratulations to Carpenter, he's certainly been around for a while and given his all.


haven't seen much pre-match talk about this one (here or elsewhere). Forecast looks perfect though, hopefully that helps our guys


A win would be really, really nice

Yeah; it is slow. I think the rank and file have had it with Rugby Canada: ticket sales have been slower, call for volunteers have been longer, etc.
People pay good money to see the NSMT but when the coach says the Calgary and Edmonton games are to get things set for the qualifiers, it reinforces the apathy. The Georgia and Romania games are Tests. I guess it does not matter much anymore to RC. All Rugby Canada and USA Rugby are talking about is the two RWC qualifiers, as if they are going to be epic contests, but, more and more, they come across as two broken national unions whacking each other with their crutches, material and verbal.

Below is the lineup for Romania, better than Georgia but not our best.

Canada Team to Face Romania (Name, club, hometown):

1. Anthony Luca – (Burnaby Lake RFC/BC Bears) Burnaby, BC

2. Ray Barkwill – (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON

3. Matt Tierney – (Section Paloise/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON

4. Brett Beukeboom, co-captain – (Cornish Pirates/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON

5. Evan Olmstead – (Newcastle Falcons/Prairie Wolf Pack) Vancouver, BC

6. Tyler Ardron – (Chiefs/Ontario Blues) Lakefield, ON

7. Matt Heaton – (Darlington Mowden Park/Atlantic Rock) Godmanchester, QC

8. Aaron Carpenter – (Doncaster Knights/Ontario Blues) Brantford, ON

9. Gordon McRorie – (UBC Old Boys Ravens/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB

10. Connor Braid – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC

11. Sean Duke – (UBC Thunderbirds/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC

12. Nick Blevins – (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB

13. Conor Trainor – (USON Nevers/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC

14. DTH van Der Merwe, co-captain – (Newcastle Falcons) Victoria, BC

15. Ciaran Hearn – (London Irish/Atlantic Rock) Conception Bay South, NL

16. Benoit Piffero – (Blagnac Sporting Club/Atlantic Rock) Montreal, QC

17. Djustice Sears-Duru – (Oakville Crusaders/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON

18. Ryan Ackerman – (Burnaby Lake RFC/BC Bears) Saskatoon, SK

19. Conor Keys – (UVIC Vikes/Atlantic Rock) Stittsville, ON

20. Kyle Baillie – (London Scottish/Atlantic Rock) Summerside, PEI

21. Phil Mack – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC

22. Shane O’Leary – (Unattached) Cork, Ireland

23. Andrew Coe – (UBC Thunderbirds/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON

Is #AnscombeOut trending yet?

Braid not a 10. Blevins a club quality 12. Kelly Brown has obviously not talked about Sarries defence yet. Hookers who can throw would be nice as would locks with some beef on them. Basic passing shocking all around.

Just glanced at the article on the RC website about the Romania game. For those who may have watched, was it as dire as it sounded?

Saw something of particular interest in that story - I hadn't realized Carpenter was such a try scoring machine:

Saturday’s game also featured an historic moment as Aaron Carpenter became Canada’s all-time try scoring leader with 77, passing Al Charron’s previous record.

http://www.rugbycanada.ca/leagues/newsl ... leagueID=0
Particularly impressive given we scored 9 points - how does that math work exactly?
Congrats to him all the same

Ah well, still looking forward to next weekend, tickets in hand. Taking my nephew and his girlfriend to their first rugby game so it should be good fun for that at least!

Well Canada managed to lose by 16 to a team that played with 14 men for the last 60 minutes so it was about as ugly as you'd imagine. At least the first 70 were. Switched over to USA-Georgia at the end.

Canada had 2 yellow cards and 2 disallowed tries.

Ref was utterly and truly dire.... he allowed Romania to slow the game to a crawl.

The game was such that any new rugby fan will never watch another after that. Romania's style of play is utterly dull.

Canadian should have tried to open the game up and took a few quick penalty taps and forced the tempo of the game.

Canadian forwards played great but the Canadian 9-15 were terrible in handling / attack. I don't think there was a line break the entire match. Way too many balls thrown away in the back line. A few decent kicks long to the corner. Mack came on and once again showed how he gets isolated on attack.

All in all, a very dull game to watch. Both teams looked pretty bad TBH.

Basticus wrote:Just glanced at the article on the RC website about the Romania game. For those who may have watched, was it as dire as it sounded?

Saw something of particular interest in that story - I hadn't realized Carpenter was such a try scoring machine:

Saturday’s game also featured an historic moment as Aaron Carpenter became Canada’s all-time try scoring leader with 77, passing Al Charron’s previous record.

http://www.rugbycanada.ca/leagues/newsl ... leagueID=0
Particularly impressive given we scored 9 points - how does that math work exactly?
Congrats to him all the same

Ah well, still looking forward to next weekend, tickets in hand. Taking my nephew and his girlfriend to their first rugby game so it should be good fun for that at least!

I paid to watch this game, as I did in Calgary, as bad as it probably looked on TV, it was worse in person. Our backline play was awful, and I am being generous in my description. Braid was shockingly poor at #10: he never should have been there in the first place. We have no cohesion, no unity back there, and our coach is exasperating the situation. Our passing is at the level of a tier three country. In truth we are a tier three country and of course it is Rugby Canada's fault.

In my book only Olmstead and Heaton did reasonably well.

But wait,

next week is what we have all been waiting for, the RWC qualifiers. Two sad sack unions battling it out to make a World Cup neither deserves to compete in: Bring it on.

moosehead wrote:Canada had 2 yellow cards and 2 disallowed tries.

Ref was utterly and truly dire.... he allowed Romania to slow the game to a crawl.

The game was such that any new rugby fan will never watch another after that. Romania's style of play is utterly dull.

Canadian should have tried to open the game up and took a few quick penalty taps and forced the tempo of the game.

Canadian forwards played great but the Canadian 9-15 were terrible in handling / attack. I don't think there was a line break the entire match. Way too many balls thrown away in the back line. A few decent kicks long to the corner. Mack came on and once again showed how he gets isolated on attack.

All in all, a very dull game to watch. Both teams looked pretty bad TBH.

Surely we watched the same match?

At first disallowed try Canadian winger was clearly touching with his hand the line, obvious no try decision. At Ardon's try, same winger grabbed the head of a Romanian winger instead of the ball, another obvious infringement which granted him a yellow.

As for Romania style dull, I thought I lost my eyes when I saw Canucks trying to maul the Oaks. This was the main idea of Canada entire match, the team was truly dire. Than, it wasn't even a Romanian top XV, we missed a lot of key players like Lazar, V. Ursache, Burcea or Fercu and one 19 yo player had his first test match. Canada tried to open the match up but Romanian defense was unforgiving, you simply failed to match the level of physicality of Oaks.

Finally to play 60 minutes with one more man on the pitch and complaining about the ref this is laughable.

The Romanian red card was for a punch to head away from the ball - hard to argue that one.
2nd yellow card to DTH that also disallowed a try was a weak call in my opinion.

The ref lost control of the match and allowed the Romanian team to slow the tempo at every scrum and every lineout to the point that the game was extremely unwatchable to any paying fan .

Don't get me wrong. Canada did not deserve to win the match. Canada's backline was terrible.

My point is that Romania just plays a very dull style of rugby and an weak refereee like this match had allowed the Romania squad to destroy the game .

Canada's forwards played decently and yes Romania defended well.

If rugby is going to move forward though in popularity though we need teams that have some commitment to attacking rugby and we need ref's that penalize teams for destroying the game with slow down tactics in set pieces.

Bring on the Americans' . Hopefully we have a game with 2 teams trying to play an expansive game. Hopefully we see a CDN backline that can actually create a few line breaks and a few effective offloads.

I think you have a too good opinion on Canadian backs. We played since 5 years yet you failed to win a game and the number of tries scored is very small in direct matches

Canada was exposed constantly to T1 tests but failed to delivered and went into a dive after some old players retired. You can have the best backs, if they don't have a platform it's like you don't have them. ABs failed to win WCs for quite some time and they managed to win it once they put their scrum together and become, if not dominant, but on par with teams with better forwards and set piece. You are not probably aware that lineout is giving the most possession, statistically.

I don't get your complain about slowing down the game, if it's legal , what is the issue? This is not Sevens, it is XV and these two are different sports.

And about a dull game, I think we've seen different games, I suggest you look again to Romania's tries, two consecutive offloads? This must be dull indeed. Same as CDN trying to maul Oaks repeatedly I thought I didn't see well...besides, you should also ask yourself why Oaks scrum didn't moved an inch back even if they played for 60 minutes with 7 forwards

amzro wrote:I think you have a too good opinion on Canadian backs. We played since 5 years yet you failed to win a game and the number of tries scored is very small in direct matches

Canada was exposed constantly to T1 tests but failed to delivered and went into a dive after some old players retired. You can have the best backs, if they don't have a platform it's like you don't have them. ABs failed to win WCs for quite some time and they managed to win it once they put their scrum together and become, if not dominant, but on par with teams with better forwards and set piece. You are not probably aware that lineout is giving the most possession, statistically.

I don't get your complain about slowing down the game, if it's legal , what is the issue? This is not Sevens, it is XV and these two are different sports.

And about a dull game, I think we've seen different games, I suggest you look again to Romania's tries, two consecutive offloads? This must be dull indeed. Same as CDN trying to maul Oaks repeatedly I thought I didn't see well...besides, you should also ask yourself why Oaks scrum didn't moved an inch back even if they played for 60 minutes with 7 forwards

Romania has a solid strong forward pack no doubt but Romania's lineout were pretty poor actually.
I was surprised to see a weak Romanian lineout.

It is the refs responsibility to make sure teams scrummage and lineout in a respectful time. This ref was clearly very weak and let the Romanians delay at every set piece.... even collapse their own scrums to get their opponent penalized.
Very weak ref. Romania even was allowed to committ professional fouls at their 5 meter line late in the game.
This ref was clearly way over his head at this level of rugby.

Maybe Romania was jet lagged... but Canada's back line was so weak , CDN was never going to put up points.... especially with such a weak goal kicker.

Romania also has an excellent goal kicker....

All in all, a dismal display for the fans and the sport of rugby.

ogrelord wrote:

canuckles wrote: Canada's pack was excellent. The front row of Murray, Kotze and Keith was outstanding at the scrum. The scrum lost a bit of bite when Murray came off at the half.
The backline offered little in the first forty even with our dominance at the scrum.
Cole Keith was a man amongst young men. For me he was the best player on the field and is a prop of enormous potential.
Hurst at #9 won MOTM.
Jake Thiel was very good and already has the nous of a #8.
Cole Davis, the third Albertan on the squad, came on late in the first half. He displayed decent speed at wing and already has the physique of a professional rugger.
For the Yanks, their #13 will be a pain in the ass for Canada in the future. He is way ahead of the curve for a North American U20 player. The Yank #6 was good; the best of their forwards with a high work rate. He came off late with what appeared to be a groin problem. Their fullback is a nifty bugger, undersized but quick and creative.

Scrum lost a little but Sampson is better in the loose than Murray. Nice to have three players who actually look like props versus the Yanks who clearly didn't belong there.

The midfield balance was all wrong. Barton is not a 13. He and Josh Thiel are the same player, heavyweight line breaking 12. When Barton went off and McMullan moved up it changed dramatically. Don't think McMullan is a long-term 13. I would like to see Barton at 12 on Saturday with possibly Ngawati at 13.

Cole Keith and Malon Al-Jiboori were noticeably better than the rest. Both should be senior tourists in November.

Couldn't understand Hurst getting MotM to be honest. He was ok but nothing amazing IMO.

Not completely sold on Jake Thiel yet but he does look good. An upgrade from Luke Bradley. Looks to have more about him than his brother.

Why didn't Davis start? He was an absolute tank on the wing. The Yanks looked terrified every time he touched the ball.

Lorenzo Thomas is the 13, he's already got a couple senior ARC caps. I thought he had a poor game. He is capable of much more when he decided to take the ball on. Al-Jiboori was the 6. Man of the match before he went off. Rodriguez the fullback was very impressive but is destined for 7s at his size.

O'Neill (7) and Currie (6) had a big impact at the breakdown but not sure they have the size to make the jump. Ditto the other lock Doll who is a couple inches shorter than Beukeboom. Good engine but too small for senior level. Kotze looked handy at hooker, as did his replacement Ng. Kelly had a good game minus his goal kicking which needs a lot of practice.

The result of the second game was a disappointment, and it likely indicates some of the weaknesses of the team. The game was a couple of days ago, but I remember Beukeboom and Currie having strong games. McMullan was good (with the exception of a bad miss-read on D) while he was on the field. He has good speed and vision, and he hits the line well from the back. Kotze was a backrower when he was out here. He has moved to hooker at the right time and age. With the exception of a front rower and a wing, the team appears to lack depth. Ngawati is firmly with the Toronto league team; I can't see Rugby Canada playing him. Where is the teen #8 for Burnaby (I think)? Any issues there? I am looking forward to the tournament. The best of luck to our boys.

Which if any of the U20s look like they could make the step up to the senior side?


When is the senior team for the US match announced, anyone know?

Can we also talk about how embarrassing Gareth Rees' commentary has become?

Nieghorn wrote:Can we also talk about how embarrassing Gareth Rees' commentary has become?

Was it bad? I couldn't tell my facebook feed was so inferior