Big Win by Canada to Finish Oceania U20 Tournament: Canada 57-Tonga 27
It was a strong win by the Canada U20 men’s team who went 2-1 at the Oceania U20 tournament defeating Samoa and Tonga. There were 8 separate try scorers in the match with Liam James notching the double. Liam is the son of Canada rugby great Mike James who the announcer called, “the greatest player of Canada rugby of all time” on Liam’s second try (see video highlight below).
The try scoring tally was 5 forward tries and 4 backline tries which is a good reflection of the balanced attack in this match. The forwards lineout and maul was the platform that won the match in the second half. The halftime score was 24-10 for Canada but Tonga kept it close and had it at 31-20 with 55 minutes to go. It was 3 consecutive lineout and maul tries by the forwards that broke the game open.
Scorers: Angus Dewar (1T), Kaea Griffiths (1T), (1PT), Liam James (2T), Seb Poyser (1T), Josh du Toit (1T), Daniel Lucic (1T), Kohl Kletke (1T, 4C), Joe Kaufmann (1C)
A great try by Liam James to finish off the Canada U20 win over Tonga, the announcer, “he’s living up to the name of James, after his dad, the greatest player of Canada rugby of all time” @mjmortgages @RugbyCanada @SFParisRugby pic.twitter.com/oQZj0dxVlw
— BC Rugby News (@BCRugbyNews) June 7, 2025
The tour was a success and one of the best U20 results in recent years. The first win over Samoa was fuelled by some backline brilliance where Josh McIndoe and Morgan di Nardo stood out. The loss to Fiji showed some great resilience as the team came back from a 42-0 scoreline to finish a respectable 56-24. The Tonga match showed how much the lineout had improved and it was a balanced team effort that was the highlight.
Congratulations to the coaching staff and players on a job well done.
Canada Name Side to Face Tonga at Oceania U20 Tournament on Friday
Coaches have gone back to the roster that defeated Samoa in the first match. There’s only one change to the starting XV from the Samoa match with Angus Dewar earning the start at loosehead prop, moving Cole Harris to starting tighthead prop. Outside those who played against Samoa, only 3 other players from the loss to Fiji break into the match 23 besides Dewar, Josh du Toit takes the reserve hooker spot, Quinn Foley the reserve second row, and Reece Thompson the reserve utility back.
The game kicks off at 7pm PT on Friday, June 6th. Rugby Canada report the game will be live streamed on rugbypass.tv but that stream hasn’t worked in the first two rounds for Canadian viewers, hopefully it will on Friday.
Canada v Tonga
1 Angus Dewar
2 Allistair Yeomans
3 Cole Harris
4 Darragh Doyle
5 Seb Poyser
6 Coen Quin
7 Kaea Griffiths
8 Liam Kinghorn
9 Stephen Webb
10 Josh Mcindoe
11 Morgan di Nardo
12 Jimmy Leach
13 Liam Turnbull
14 Liam James
15 Kohl Kletke
16 Josh du Toit
17 Daniel Lucic
18 James Noftall
19 Quinn Foley
20 Adam Doane
21 Daniel Muzaliwa
22 Reece Thompson
23 Joe Kaufmann
