Canada ‘A’ Defeat Brazil XV 31-14 to Conclude South American Tour: Video Link
It has been a while, it seems, since a Canadian men’s XVs team has won a game against anyone besides Belgium. This win was much needed for morale and confidence.
One especially pleasing aspect of the victory was the composition of the team, representing a segment of players who have previously been overlooked by Kingsley Jones and the Canada XVs selectors. Seven of the players have no MLR experience, no pro experience and play in the BC Premier league with university and academy teams. The BC Premier has 12 teams, 11 are Canadian, each team has 3 to 4 players who could have slotted into this Canada ‘A’ side, that’s a solid 30 to 40 players that Jones and company have ignored the last world cup cycle.
Also important in victory were the 7s players, there were four of them in the starting XV.
It wasn’t a perfect performance by the Canada ‘A’ side but there were a lot of positives and also a lot of room for improvement. They held the Brazilian side scoreless in the second half, that was impressive. The Canada ‘A’ scrum was solid and even had the upper hand. The defence was energetic and committed. They were able to punch the ball ahead in the forwards and get around the Brazilian defence on the outside, they kept their focus for 80 minutes. All reasons for optimism with the Canada ‘A’ team. The question now becomes will the full Canada side be able to bring the same energy and focus?
There’s no doubt that Canada ‘A’ need more international matches and that more players need to be rotated through the program.
The live video stream from Brazil Rugby failed again but someone picked up the slack at the 28 minute mark of the first half to stream the remainder of the game. Hopefully the link below remains active.
Video Link from 28 minutes on: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=784485799509000
from Rugby Canada
Canadas Mens Rugby Team concluded their two-game Americas Rugby Trophy competition with a 31-14 win over hosts Brazil at Municipal Stadium Francisco Ribeiro Nogueira in São Paulo, Brazil on Wednesday.
The win over Brazil followed a 36-25 loss to Chile last Wednesday in Canadas first game of the newly formed development series between the three countries. All matches in the competition were non-capped.
I thought it was a really good game, said Head Coach Kingsley Jones. Brazil brought a lot of value and put us under pressure at times. I am really pleased with the performances from those who started tonight, some who were 19 and 20 years old. What we are trying to create is depth and a lot of guys who put their hand up tonight, putting pressure on the players who have been in our test matches over the last couple of years. We want a deep pool of talent that we can call on to be ready for World Cup qualification in 2025.
Josiah Morra, Cooper Coats, Robbie Povey, Ross Braude and Siaki Vikilani all got over the line to score tries for Canada in the match. In addition, the foot of Povey contributed six more points on successful conversions to round of the scoring for the Canadians.
Morra got Canada off to a great start in the game, scoring his try less than three minutes into the match. Combined with Poveys conversion, Canada enjoyed an early 7-0 lead. Later in the first half, Coats added his try to Canadas total, increasing their lead over Brazil to 14-0 with another Povey conversion.
Only a few minutes after the Coats score, Brazil got on the board with their first try of the match. With the scoreboard now reading 14-7, Povey got the ball down to push his teams lead back to 19-7 in the 32nd minute. However, just before half time Brazil answered with their second try to cut the deficit back to 19-14 heading into the final 40-minutes.
The two sides played a scoreless first 20 minutes of the second half until Braude, who replaced Jason Higgins at scrumhalf, dashed through a pair of Brazil defenders before touching it down for Canadas fourth try of the match. Canada carried the 24-14 advantage for the remainder of the game until Vikilani scored on the final play of the game. Povey went on to kick his third conversion of the match to seal it for Canada by a final score of 31-14.
After naming a starting fifteen filled with international experience in the first game against Chile, Jones went with a much younger squad for the matchup against Brazil captained by the veteran, Kyle Baillie.
Currently with Canadas high-performance program, the Pacific Pride, prop Kyle Steeves and flanker Matthew Klimchuk got the start for Canada against a Brazilian team well-known for their strength around the scrum. Steeves logged over 60 minutes of game time in his first experience at the international senior mens level before being subbed off for Conor Young. After coming off the bench against Chile, Klimchuk tallied 62 minutes across the two games for his first taste of international competition since playing with Canadas U20 program this past summer.
The fifth overall selection in the 2022 MLR draft by the Toronto Arrows, Owain Ruttan, started opposite Klimchuk at flanker. Ruttan, a Canadian University Mens Rugby Champion with the UBC Thunderbirds in 2021, adds to his international experience after time in Canadas U19 and U20 programs in 2017-2018.
Led by experienced fly half, Robbie Povey, Canadas backline was filled with up-and-coming talent. DShawn Bowen, who graduated from the Pacific Pride into Canadas Mens Sevens Team, started on the wing opposite Morra, who holds a plenty of international experience from time with the mens sevens team and the U20 program in 2018. Gabriel Casey and Alex Russell, both of whom came off the bench for Canada against Chile, started in the centers.
For a second-straight game, Pride alumni and prop Emerson Prior came off the bench for Canada. Current UBC Thunderbirds Izzak Kelly got in the action at the 54-minute mark, coming on for Klimchuk at flanker. Kellys UBC teammates and twin brothers, Takoda and Talon McMullin came on for Russell and Casey later in the match to finish the game.
With the Americas Rugby Trophy development competition now complete. Canada will soon gather in the Netherlands for a pair of international test matches against the host Dutch and Namibia on November 12 and 19. More details to come.
*Canada Name Team to Face Brazil on Wednesday*
[ed. update Foster Dewitt received an injury in training.]
Kingsley Jones has named his team to take on Brazil on Wednesday. It brings on the rest of the travelling squad, with the exception of Grady Bowd and Foster Dewitt. There’s no explanation in the Rugby Canada media release on why those two players didn’t get playing time on the tour, they could have easily been inserted with Bowd at #10 and Dewitt at hooker or prop without losing any quality.
The good news is Gabe Casey gets a start at centre as does Kyle Steeves at tighthead prop. Owain Ruttan and Matt Klimchuk get starts at the flanker position and D’Shawn Bowen at wing. Izzak Kelly is the reserve second row and the McMullin brothers are the reserve backs. This is supposed to be a development tour so it’s fitting these young players get a run out in the second and last game of the tour.
The match kicks off on Wednesday at 3:30pm PT, hopefully the live stream provided by Brazil Rugby will work this time.
from Rugby Canada
Kingsley Jones, Head Coach of Canadas Mens Rugby Team, has selected his 23-man roster for Wednesdays non-capped match against Brazil, presented by DHL.
After dropping their game against Chile last week, 36-25, Canadas Mens Rugby Team will face Brazil in their second and final game of the new Americas Rugby Trophy, a competition dedicated to development between the three countries.
Brazil, currently ranked No. 27 in the world, will welcome Jones and his Canadian squad to the Municipal Stadium Francisco Ribeiro Nogueira on Wednesday, October 26 with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. PST/6:30 p.m. EST.
It has been a short preparation period, but we are looking forward to the match against Brazil on Wednesday, said Jones. It is going to be a challenging game for us, we know how strong Brazil is around the set piece, but I am excited to see what this group can do on the field. This is another great opportunity for our young, up-and-coming players to display their skills against a higher level of competition than they are used to playing against.
Kyle Baillie will captain the Canadian side in their clash against Brazil. Baillie, who has more than 30 caps for Canada, returned to international competition last week and recorded more than 70-minutes of playing time against Chile. The Summerside, PEI native missed both of Canadas test matches in July due to injury.
In the forward pack, Pacific Pride players Kyle Steeves and Matthew Klimchuk will start for Jones. Steeves, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, starts at tight head prop while Klimchuk who hails from Regina, Saskatchewan starts at flank.
Former UBC Thunderbird, Owain Ruttan, will start opposite of Klimchuk at flank, while Gabriel Casey from the University of Victoria draws into the backline at number 12. Both Ruttan and Casey were selected by the Toronto Arrows in the 2022 MLR draft.
After playing at fly half against Chile, Cooper Coats returns to his familiar position, starting at fullback while Josiah Morra gets his second-straight start on the wing. Torontos DShawn Bowen will start opposite Morra and Alex Russell joins the backline at outside center.
From White Rock, BC, twin brothers Takoda and Talon McMullin as well as Izzak Kelly, who all play for the UBC Thunderbirds, are set to come off the bench. The McMullin brothers get their first experience of senior mens international rugby after playing against Zimbabwe, Chile and Uruguay this past summer with Canadas U20s program.
WHERE TO WATCH
Broadcast details will be confirmed with the host union and announced prior to the match.
CANADAS SENIOR MENS 15s MATCH DAY ROSTER VS BRAZIL
1. Liam Murray (Langley, BC) Dallas Jackals
2. Lindsey Stevens (Sydney, Australia) – LA Giltinis
3. Kyle Steeves (Winnipeg, MB) Manitoba Wombats / Pacific Pride
4. Conor Keys (Stittsville, Ottawa, ON) New England Free Jacks
5. Kyle Baillie (Summerside, PEI) Halifax Tars
6. Matthew Klimchuk (Regina, SK) Regina Rogues / UVIC
7. Owain Ruttan (Cobourg, ON) UBC
8. Siaki Vikilani (Burnaby, BC) Toronto Arrows
9. Jason Higgins (Cork, Ireland) San Diego Legion
10. Robert Povey (Oxford, UK) Houston Sabercats
11. Josiah Morra (Toronto, Ontario) – Castaway Wanderers / Canada Sevens
12. Gabriel Casey (Ottawa, ON) Bytown Blues / UVIC
13. Alex Russell (Chichester, England) McGill University / Canada Sevens
14. DShawn Bowen (Toronto, ON) Canada Sevens
15. Cooper Coats (Halifax, NS) Halifax Tars / Canada Sevens
REPLACEMENTS
16. Andrew Quattrin (Holland Landing, ON) New England Free Jacks
17. Emerson Prior (Brockville, Ontario) Peterborough Pagans / Utah Warriors
18. Conor Young (Yamba, Australia) New England Free Jacks
19. Izzak Kelly (White Rock, BC) Bayside Sharks RFC / UBC
20. Corey Thomas (Broome, Australia) LA Giltinis
21. Ross Braude (Pretoria, South Africa) Toronto Arrows
22. Talon McMullin (White Rock, BC) UBC
23. Takoda McMullin (White Rock, BC) UBC