Canada U20 lose to Portugal

On a lovely day for rugby football Canada u20 played Portugal u20 at Caldas de Rainha on Sunday February 17 . Although deservedly beaten by 37-15 Canada showed flashes of good rugby in both offence and defence that engenders  some optimism for the future. The first 20 minutes were played at a fast pace ,generally with ball in hand,and controlled nicely by Outside half Brock Webster. Reward  for this pressure was a penalty in front of the posts by Webster and a  fine try. The try -scoring movement  was initiated by a Webster break, continued by Lockie Kratz and finished by Jarvis Dashkewytch. Another try beckoned but a knock-on close  to the line negated the effort.

The tide turned after 20 minutes and Portugal scored a penalty awarded for going off the feet at the ruck at 25 minutes,and another at 35 minutes. Near the half a Portuguese midfield break from a scrum lead to converted try.  This was disappointing as Portugal were serving a yellow card at the time. Score at halftime was 11-8.

Portugal started the second half at speed and scored an excellent ,multi-phased ,converted try at 49 minutes and a third at 53 minutes.  The next 2 tries were preventable as they resulted from a bungled recovery of a kick through by Portugal and an intercept. As the game came to an end Reid Davis finished a long ,multi sequence move with a try under the posts ,converted by Campbell Clarke .

In addition to Webster Lockie Kratz had a fine game until injured at 44 minutes .He was replaced by Glen Butler. Tyler Duguid was a behemoth in both defence and offence , and finished the game at prop having started at second row. Quentin James made a successful transition from second row to back row , highlighted by a succession of big tackles. Eighteen year old Michael McCarthy played all 80 minutes ,an unusual event in the modern game for a hooker .

In addition to Butler replacements were as follows: Guerschom Mukendi  was replaced by Josh Tweed at loose head prop at 50 minutes ,Clarke came in for Webster  at 55 minutes, Henry Stephenson at second row for Duguid who moved to prop to replace Stefan Zuliani at 65 minutes , also around this time Mason Flesch replaced  Will Matthews at open side, Connor McKinney replaced Ali Bulman in the back row, Sam Kahn came in for Brock Gallagher at scrum half .

"Our start was excellent , but we failed to sustain our effort , perhaps influenced by lack of game time prior to the tour and a short preparation period. There is little doubt we can improve defensive structure and ball retention on this tour" commented Head Coach Jeff Williams.

"The key for us is to create a strong foundation and improve this week ,when we play Portugal A on Wednesday and both Spain and France on Saturday. These games ensure that all 28 players will play 2 games each.”

Match highlights will be uploaded shortly to Rugby Canada's YouTube