Canada Thumped by Fiji 56-24 in Oceania U20 Tournament
It could have been worse, Canada were down 42-0 at 35 minutes into the first half and a point per minute 80-0 hiding wasn’t out of the question. Fiji were playing a high tempo game and Canada didn’t have their heads in the game. Fortunately half time was coming up, a time to regroup, and make some changes. It was a good time for Josh McIndoe to insert himself into the match, picking up an errant Fiji pass that went to ground and take it to the try line. Canada at least finished the half on a high note, down now only 42-7.
McIndoe moved to first receiver and some of the subs came off the bench. The game settled into a less frantic pace and Canada actually outscored Fiji in the second half 21-14. Adding tries were Austin Allen the blindside flanker, Darragh Doyle the second row and captain, and finally the star winger, Morgan di Nardo.
There were a few encouraging signs, resilience for one, the team was able to refocus and make a comeback. The lineout generally worked better and two of the tries were set up by lineouts and mauls, finished off by pick and go hard yards from the forwards. McIndoe and di Nardo again confirmed that good things happen when they get involved and get their hands on the ball, both scoring tries.
Samoa eked out a 32-31 win over Tonga, setting up an interesting final match for Canada against Tonga. It will be interesting see the frame of mind Canada comes out with in their next match, they now know the consequences of not being mentally prepared. After two matches the coaches will have played everyone and now they can put out their best roster for the final match. The Tonga match is Friday, June 6th.
Canada Names U20 Team to Face Fiji at 7:00pm PT on June 1st
Coach Christiaan Esterhuizen has made significant changes to the roster for the upcoming match against Fiji. A big change is moving Josh McIndoe from #10 to #12 and bringing Evan Davies into the match 23 to start at #10. Two changes to the front row, Angus Dewar and Josh du Toit see their first action, as starting loosehead prop and hooker. Cole Harris moves from loosehead prop to tighthead prop.
Captain Daragh Doyle retains his second row position and is joined in the second row by another new player in the roster, Ben Koolen. It’s a new backrow with reserve players Austin Allen, Adam Doane and Alex Muir getting the start.
Reece Thompson replaces Stephen Webb as starting scrum-half. Spencer Cotie comes off the bench to replace Liam James on the wing, Max McGavern comes into the match 23 to start at fullback replacing Kohl Kletke. Morgan di Nardo and Liam Turnbull retain their spots on the wing and outside centre. Looking at the starting XV, only the 3 players Doyle, di Nardo and Turnbull have retained their starting spot, while 2, Harris and McIndoe have remained starters but moved positions. It’s an ambitious change and a chance for coaches to get a look at everyone before the final match against Tonga.
The host Fijians would have been favourites going into the tournament but Canada are coming off a good win against Samoa. At the senior level Fiji are ranked #9 and Canada #24 by World Rugby.
At the U20 level, Fiji were just relegated from the 12 team Tier 1 competition last year, they were replaced by Scotland in this year’s JWC tournament, that would give them a current ranking of #13. Canada would have a ranking below #20 as they didn’t make the 8 team Tier 2 tournament last year, there’s no World Rugby ranking mechanism at U20 below #20. Their recent win over #18 ranked Samoa would give an estimate of this year’s squad ranking.
Kickoff is at 7pm PT on Sunday, there’s still a promise of live streaming on rugbypass.tv although they didn’t come through in the first round.
Canada v Fiji
1 Angus Dewar
2 Josh du Toit
3 Cole Harris
4 Darragh Doyle
5 Ben Koolen
6 Austin Allen
7 Adam Doane
8 Alex Muir
9 Reece Thompson
10 Evan Davies
11 Morgan di Nardo
12 Josh Mcindoe
13 Liam Turnbull
14 Spencer Cotie
15 Max McGavern
16 Andrew Neveu
17 Allistair Yeomans
18 Kyle Finan
19 Quinn Foley
20 Liam Kinghorn
21 Daniel Muzaliwa
22 Jimmy Leach
23 Liam James
