Canada’s team named for final Rugby World Cup pool match
Rugby 15s Senior Men
Kamaishi, Japan (October 10, 2019) – Head coach Kingsley Jones has selected his game day 23 ahead of Canada’s final pool match of the Rugby World Cup 2019 against Namibia on Saturday, October 12th (October 13th in Japan) at Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium.
Canada are fresh off a tough match against South Africa. Despite the loss, the team showed heart in their second half effort after a red card by Josh Larsen put them down a man, holding the dominate Springboks 19-7 for the final 40 minutes. Larsen received a three-game suspension and will also miss his first two matches for his new club New England Free Jacks in the 2020 Major League Rugby season.
Building off their experience against tier 1 nations and using the tournament as an opportunity to test themselves against the best, Canada is now focusing on the task at hand and are looking to close out their campaign on a high note.
“It was a difficult selection, it might be the last time some of these guys get an opportunity in the shirt,” said Jones. “Everybody really wants to be apart of this big game ahead. Some tough decisions for us but we feel we’ve got to pick the best 23 to make sure we get that result.”
But Canada aren’t expecting to breeze to an easy win against Namibia who gave Italy good fight in their first pool match.
“They’re a very capable side and they’ve performed really well against all those big teams,” added Jones. “They’re well organized, they’re fast, and they want to play physical so it’s a big challenge for us.”
With Typhoon Hagibis set to make landfall Saturday in Japan, a decision will be made on the fate of Canada’s match the morning of game day. All information and updates on the situation can be found on rugbyworldcup.com/updates.
Updates on Canada’s match will be made available via Rugby Canada’s channels and fans can watch the match LIVE on TSN1 & TSN4.
Canada's Roster:
1. Djustice Sears-Duru (Oakville, ON) Seattle Seawolves
2. Eric Howard (Ottawa, ON) New Orleans Gold
3. Jake Ilnicki (Williams Lake, BC) Seattle Seawolves
4. Evan Olmstead (Vancouver, BC) Unattached
5. Conor Keys (Stittsville, ON) Unattached
6. Lucas Rumball (Scarborough, ON) Toronto Arrows
7. Matt Heaton (Godmanchester, QC) Rugby ATL
8. Tyler Ardron (Lakefield, ON) Chiefs 'C'
9. Gordon McRorie (Calgary, AB) Calgary Hornets
10. Peter Nelson (Dungannon, UK) Unattached
11. DTH van der Merwe (Regina, SK) Glasgow Warriors
12. Ciaran Hearn (Conception Bay South, NL) Unattached
13. Conor Trainor (Vancouver, BC) USON Nevers
14. Jeff Hassler (Okotoks, AB) Seattle Seawolves
15. Patrick Parfrey (St. John's, NL) Toronto Arrows
16. Andrew Quattrin (Holland Landing, ON) Toronto Arrows
17. Hubert Buydens (Saskatoon, SK) Unattached
18. Matthew Tierney (Oakville, ON) Castres Olympiques
19. Luke Campbell (Victoria, BC) Toronto Arrows / JBAA
20. Dustin Dobravsky (Hanover, Germany) Castaway Wanderers
21. Jamie Mackenzie (Oakville, ON) Toronto Arrows
22. Shane O'Leary (Cambellton, NB) Nottingham Rugby
23. Andrew Coe (Markham, ON) Markham Irish
Canada’s Rugby World Cup 2019 Schedule:
Canada 7-48 Italy
Canada 0-63 New Zealand
Canada 7-66 South Africa
SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER
(Oct 12) 20:15 PT/ (Oct 12) 23:15 ET/ 12:15 LOCAL TIME
CANADA v NAMIBIA
Broadcast: TSN 1 & 4
Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium, Iwate Prefecture, Kamaishi
Photo credit: David Gibson