Canadian Howlers U18 Team Battles to Close Loss Against Virreyes Senior Team
The Canadian Howlers, formerly the Dog River Howlers, are touring to Argentina with a U18 team selected from players across Canada. Their itinerary includes matches against Virreyes, San Isidro, and Hindu Rugby Club, all in the Buenos Aires area. They completed their first match against Virreys, a close 17-12 loss. Originally it was supposed to be against the Virreyes U18 team but the hosts thought the senior team would be a better match, and it was a competitive match.
When first watching the live stream my initial thoughts were, some of these Argentine kids are huge, but finding out later that it was the senior team put things in perspective.
The Howlers handling let them down at times but at the U18 level, playing your first game on international soil, it’s understandable there would be some “nervous” hands. Hopefully they’ll grow in confidence as the tour continues, it’s great experience for this age group in their progression to U20. A shout out to Karl Fix who organizes these tours and through his extensive contacts helps fund the tours. It’s picking up some of the slack that Rugby Canada hasn’t filled at the U18 level.
The match video and the Howlers write-up are included below. The next match will be against the San Isidro Club U18 team.
from Howlers
Final Score: Howlers 12 – 17 Virreyes
Game Video: https://youtube.com/live/t3BpeHCM7Jo
At 3:00 pm in Buenos Aires, the Canadian Howlers Rugby Club (the “Howlers”) played the Virreyes Rugby Club’s (“Virreyes”) 1rst team senior men’s side in a hotly contested, back-and-forth match. While the Howlers ultimately fell short, they held their heads high after playing against such fantastic opponents.
The Virreyes are a well-known club in Argentina, having been founded in 2002, who received the prestigious International Rugby Board (“IRB”) Spirit of Rugby award which honored their club for its extraordinary and selfless contribution to their community through sport.
As is tradition for the Howlers, they joined together with their opponents and members of the Virreyes’ local community to share a meal, celebrate their match, and provide gifts, donations, and thanks for a rugby match played between two organisations located on opposite sides of the world.
Howlers Point Scorers:
Grealy – 1T, 1C
Raino – 1T
The Howlers play their next match at 8:00 pm hosted by the San Isidro Club, one of the most successful and prestigious clubs in Argentina. Make sure to tune-in and watch the action on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/@imc74/streams
The Howler’s Roster for the match:
1. Sam Meikle
2. Grady Curran (C)
3. Jack Porter
4. Holden Sawatzky
5. Bohdan Morris
6. Connor Graham
7. Kyler Good
8. Mason Durant
9. Declan Bowman
10. Daniel Turvey
11. Lucas Peddle
12. Nolan Grealy
13. Sydney Webb
14. Desmond Murray
15. Liam de Goede
16. Henry Budden
17. Aidan Raino
18. Junior Atalifo
19. Naithan Hurd
20. Cohen Huisamen
21. Kalem Balodis
22. Jamie Dent
23. Caden du Plessis
24. Luke Thomson
25. Oliver Policelli
26. Declan Anderson
27. Logan Jones (VC)
28. Will Young
29. Kelan Barron*
30. Cameron Seed*
*On Injury Recovery
The Howlers are glad to have shared their love of the game, their appreciation, and their motto – “It’s more than a game, it’s a way of life” – with the Virreyes.
Awoooo!