Canada Name Team for Americas Rugby Trophy Matches in Brazil October 21 & 26
[ed. Rugby Canada’s press release mentions Gradyn Bowd affiliated with Old Glory DC of MLR, we don’t know if that’s new signing info or an RC error.]
Kingsley Jones has named the Canada ‘A’ team that heads to Brazil for the Americas Rugby Trophy. It brings in some new faces but it still gives Jones the option of fielding a fully capped team if he chooses. He’s well known for naming players to tours and then not including them in the match day rosters, so we’ll see what the rosters look like in the two matches before making a final evaluation.
In the front row he’s included Pacific Pride prop Kyle Steeves but has the option of naming 4 MLR props to the match day 23 if he chooses. Conor Young the Canada-eligible Australian playing in the NSW Shute Shield has also been named for the trip. The MLR props are Liam Murray (JBAA, Dallas), Tyler Rowland (JBAA, Toronto), Emerson Prior (Pacific Pride, Utah) and Foster Dewitt (Westshore, New England). The hookers, Quattrin (Toronto) and Stevens (LA), are both MLR players and capped so no new faces there.
In the second row there are a number of players who can play second row or loose forward. Izzak Kelly is a new face there, a good choice because of his potential, but it brings up the question about the players who started ahead of him at UBC last year, Frank and David Carson. What’s their status on the depth chart? Another UBC name missing is prop Cali Martinez, the top Canadian in the MLR draft this year. Callum Botchar who is now with the 7s program can play second row or loose forward. However Jones can fall back on familiar ways and name a match day roster that includes veteran capped players Kyle Baillie, Josh Larsen and Conor Keys.
In the loose forwards Matt Klimchuk from the Pacific Pride gets selected for the tour, in reality any of the current Pride loose forwards, Klimchuk, Melnyk or Nhanala would have fit into the tour. Owain Ruttan from UBC, drafted by the Arrows, gets selected for the tour, as does Siaki Vikilani who played at Burnaby, now Westshore and also played some games for the Arrows last season. Again if Jones want to play it safe he can start the familiar capped backrow of Lucas Rumball and Kyle Baillie at flankers with Corey Thomas at #8.
There’s no new faces in the scrum half position with both capped players, Ross Braude and Jason Higgins, gaining selection. At flyhalf is where we see a change, it looks like Grady Bowd may finally get a start with Peter Nelson not in the 32 player list. The only other flyhalf looks to be Gabe Casey who is playing well for UVic at that position. However both fullbacks, Cooper Coats and Rob Povey, have played #10 as well. In the centres the McMullin brothers from UBC get on tour, a good choice there, however Jones can choose to start the capped pair of Ben Lesage and Josh Thiel. Thiel’s lone XVs cap was against Chile in 2018 when he started at fullback. On the wings Jones has gone full in on the 7s program giving Josiah Morra, Alex Russell, D’Shawn Bowen and David Richard a shot. The fullbacks are the experienced Cooper Coats and Rob Povey.
There’s the potential to give some upcoming players meaningful playing time on the tour but Jones can also play it safe and name a mostly capped side. It will depend on how he selects the match day 23. It would make sense he plays the stronger roster against Chile and introduces more new players against the home side Brazil, but all 32 players need playing time for the tour to fulfill its development purpose.
Props
Liam Murray (Langley, BC) (MLR, BC Premier)
Tyler Rowland (Mississauga, ON) (MLR, BC Premier)
Emerson Prior (Brockville, Ontario) (MLR, Coastal Cup)
Kyle Steeves (Winnipeg, MB) (Academy, BC Premier)
Foster Dewitt (Courtenay, BC) (MLR, BC Premier)
Conor Young (Yamba, Australia) (NSW Shute Shield)
Hooker
Andrew Quattrin (Holland Landing, ON) (MLR)
Lindsey Stevens (Sydney, Australia) (MLR)
2nd row
Callum Botcher (Vancouver, BC) (Academy, BC Premier)
Conor Keys (Stittsville, Ottawa, ON) (MLR, BC Premier)
Josh Larsen (Nanaimo, BC) (MLR)
Izzak Kelly (White Rock, BC) (University, BC Premier)
Kyle Baillie (Summerside, PEI) (MLR, BC Premier)
Loose forwards
Lucas Rumball (Markham, ON) (MLR, BC Premier)
Corey Thomas (Broome, Australia) (MLR)
Matthew Klimchuk (Regina, SK) (Academy, BC Premier)
Owain Ruttan (Cobourg, ON) (University, BC Premier)
Siaki Vikilani (Burnaby, BC) (MLR, BC Premier)
Scrum half
Ross Braude (Pretoria, South Africa) (MLR)
Jason Higgins (Cork, Ireland) (MLR)
#10
Gradyn Bowd (Red Deer, AB) (BC Premier)
Gabriel Casey (Ottawa, ON) (University, BC Premier)
Centre
Ben LeSage (Calgary, AB) (MLR, BC Premier)
Takoda McMullin (White Rock, BC) (University, BC Premier)
Talon McMullin (White Rock, BC) (University, BC Premier)
Josh Thiel (Victoria, BC) (MLR, BC Premier)
Wing
Josiah Morra (Toronto, Ontario) (Canada 7s, BC Premier)
Alex Russell (Chichester, England) (Canada 7s, BC Premier)
DShawn Bowen (Toronto, ON) (Canada 7s, BC Premier)
David Richard (Milton, ON) (Canada 7s, BC Premier)
Fullback
Cooper Coats (Halifax, NS) (Canada 7s, BC Premier)
Robert Povey (Oxford, UK) (MLR, BC Premier)
from Rugby Canada
Canadas Senior Mens 15s Head Coach Kingsley Jones has selected his 32-man squad for the new Americas Rugby Trophy, a three-country development competition involving Chile, Brazil and Canada.
Games are not full test status, but they provide Jones and his coaches an opportunity to assess young players in the international arena.
These games will give our up-and-coming players a taste of international competition, testing them against stronger opposition and bridging the gap from domestic rugby said Jones. All players involved will gain valuable experience while allowing us to build our depth as we continue to prepare for the next Rugby World Cup qualification period.
Canada will face Chile on Friday, October 21, their first action since the summer fixtures against Belgium and Spain. The second game Canada will face Brazil on Wednesday, October 26, with both game matches being played at the city of Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo Metropolitan Region.
The squad selected by Jones features a balanced selection of veteran players with experience at the international level mixed with new, younger talent including players from the national U20 program, the Pacific Pride, Canadas Senior Mens 7s team and various Canadian universities.
Crossover athletes from the 7s program include Cooper Coats, David Richard, DShawn Bowen, Josiah Morra and Alex Russell.
Standouts from Canadas U20 team Matthew Klimchuk, Takoda and Talon McMullin, who are twin brothers, have been selected by Jones. All three players participated in the recent U20 competition that saw Canada clash with Zimbabwe, Chile and Uruguay this past August.
Former UBC Thunderbird captain Owain Ruttan and current University of Victoria Vikes player Gabriel Casey get their first opportunity to represent Canada. Both players were selected by the Toronto Arrows in the 2022 MLR draft.
Americas Rugby Trophy Schedule:
Chile vs. Canada October 21 at 4pm local time – 12:00 p.m. PST / 3:00 p.m. EST
Brazil vs. Canada October 26 at 7:30pm – 3:30 p.m. PST / 6:30 p.m. EST
Broadcast details to come.
CANADAS SENIOR MENS 15s SQUAD FOR AMERICAS RUGBY TROPHY
Gradyn Bowd (Red Deer, AB) Castaway Wanderers / Old Glory DC
Callum Botcher (Vancouver, BC) Canada Sevens
Ross Braude (Pretoria, South Africa) Toronto Arrows
Cooper Coats (Halifax, NS) Halifax Tars / Canada Sevens
Jason Higgins (Cork, Ireland) San Diego Legion
Conor Keys (Stittsville, Ottawa, ON) Rugby Atlanta
Josh Larsen (Nanaimo, BC) New England Free Jacks
Ben LeSage (Calgary, AB) LA Giltinis
Liam Murray (Langley, BC) Dallas Jackals
Josiah Morra (Toronto, Ontario) – Castaway Wanderers / Canada Sevens
Andrew Quattrin (Holland Landing, ON) New England Free Jacks
Tyler Rowland (Mississauga, ON) Toronto Arrows
Lucas Rumball (Markham, ON) Toronto Arrows
Lindsey Stevens (Sydney, Australia) – LA Giltinis
Corey Thomas (Broome, Australia) LA Giltinis
Emerson Prior (Brockville, Ontario) Peterborough Pagans / Utah Warriors
Conor Young (Yamba, Australia) Southern Districts Rugby Club
Takoda McMullin (White Rock, BC) UBC
Talon McMullin (White Rock, BC) UBC
Kyle Steeves (Winnipeg, MB) Manitoba Wombats / Pacific Pride
Alex Russell (Chichester, England) McGill University / Canada Sevens
Matthew Klimchuk (Regina, SK) Regina Rogues / UVIC
Izzak Kelly (White Rock, BC) Bayside Sharks RFC / UBC
Owain Ruttan (Cobourg, ON) UBC
Gabriel Casey (Ottawa, ON) Bytown Blues / UVIC
Foster Dewitt (Courtenay, BC) New England Free Jacks
Kyle Baillie (Summerside, PEI) Halifax Tars
Siaki Vikilani (Burnaby, BC) Toronto Arrows
Josh Thiel (Victoria, BC) James Bay AA
DShawn Bowen (Toronto, ON) Canada Sevens
David Richard (Milton, ON) Mississauga Blues RFC
Robert Povey (Oxford, UK) Houston Sabercats