Canada Men’s XVs Announce November Tests Against Romania and Chile
The Canada men’s XVs team get two more test matches this year with Romania hosting. First up on November 9th Canada will play Chile, then on November 16th they’ll face the hosts, Romania. The three teams are consecutively ranked from 20th to 22nd in the world.
World Rankings
19 – USA 66.08
20 – Romania 62.62
21 – Chile 61.39
22 – Canada 60.81
One question that arises is will Kingsley Jones still be coach? In October 2023 Rugby Canada announced a 2 year extension on Jones’ contract, despite his failing to lead Canada to a 2023 Rugby World Cup berth, the first time in Canadian rugby history that Canada have failed to make the World Cup. There’s always the possibility Jones’ will find an offer before the end of the contract and leave on his own accord or Rugby Canada will terminate or buy out the contract. Neither option seems likely as there appears little external pressure to improve performance, from the mainstream media, or from the Provincial unions, the only members of Rugby Canada. The people who would have answers on what the future holds would be Stephen Aboud, the High Performance Director, sAboud@rugby.ca and Nathan Bombrys, the CEO, nBombrys@rugby.ca – we’ve tried unsuccessfully to get answers but you can always try to reach out to express your views and request information.
from Rugby Canada
Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team has confirmed two more test matches before the end of 2024 in Bucharest, Romania, where they will play Chile and the host Romanians in November. These will bring Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team to a total of seven international test matches this year, providing important and consistent experience for the players as the team builds towards Rugby World Cup qualification.
“Knowing that we get to be back together again in November will be awesome for us to keep building and taking steps forward as a team,” said vice-captain Ben Lesage. “We have got a young group at the moment and lots of guys are being exposed to test match rugby for the first time. The more opportunities we have to play as a group will help us as we prepare for Rugby World Cup qualifications next summer.”
The team will travel to Romania having already been together for two tours throughout the summer, which began with two matches against Scotland and Romania in Ottawa in July. Canada is currently competing in the Pacific Nations Cup, with their final match against Tonga scheduled for Saturday September 14 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Toyko.
Lesage added: “November will be another chance for us to test ourselves against the teams around us in the world rankings and see how much we’ve improved after the Pacific Nations Cup.”
More information about Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team’s tour to Romania will be available soon.
MATCH SCHEDULE
Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team vs Chile
November 9, 2024
3:00am PT / 6:00am ET / 1:00pm local time
Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team vs Romania
November 16, 2024
8:00am PT / 11:00am ET / 6:00pm local time