Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team fall to Namibia 43-37 at National Rugby Center Amsterdam in the Netherlands

November 19, 2022 (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team concluded their two-game European fall tour with a 43-37 loss to Namibia at the National Rugby Center Amsterdam in the Netherlands on Saturday.

Down 36-34 with less than two minutes left in the match, Canada found themselves with a lineout just inside Namibia’s 22-metre line. Reserve hooker Lindsey Stevens hit his mark on the throw and after a few phases Canada forced Namibia to take a penalty at the breakdown, setting up Cooper Coats for a shot at goal with less than 60 seconds to play.

Coats put the penalty kick through the posts from approximately 15-metres out, giving his Canadian side the one-point advantage at 37-36 with only time for one more play.

On the ensuing kick-off, Canada was called for a knock on before taking two scrum infractions which resulted in a penalty for the opposition. Namibia opted for a lineout deep in Canadian territory rather than kicking a penalty which could have sealed the match. After struggling in the first half, the Namibian lineout came up clutch when they needed it most and after several phases along Canada’s try line, scrum half TC Kisting dove over the line, sealing a thrilling victory for his Namibian squad on the final play of the game. The conversion was successful as Namibia defeated Canada for the first time in history, 43-37.

Corey Thomas and Andrew Quattrin each scored two tries while Coats added added 17 points with his foot to round out the scoring for Canada.

“We learned a hard lesson today,” said Head Coach Kingsley Jones. “Really disappointed obviously with a lot of belief going into this game. I felt we should have been further in front at half time, which cost us as well. We took away the Namibian lineout, managed the contact area and I thought our physicality was excellent but unfortunately, we didn’t get enough time in their territory.”

Canada opened the scoring just two minutes into the match when Coats slotted a penalty kick to give his side an early 3-0 advantage. However, the lead was short lived as just a few minutes later Namibian lock, Adriaan Ludick, charged down a Jason Higgins box kick inside the Canadian half. Several phases later, Ludick finished off the sequence by scoring the try and with a successful conversion, Namibia took a 7-3 lead.

Canada answered with their first try in the 11th minute after a five-metre lineout and well-executed maul by the Canadians saw Quattrin get over the line to reclaim the lead at 10-7.

The 18th minute brought the first of two tries from Canadian flanker Corey Thomas. His first came after finding a gap just outside Namibia’s 22-metre line, leaving a one-on-one with their fullback Andre van der Berg. Thomas made no mistake, using a step and a stiff arm to get by the last defender to extend his squads lead to 17-7 after a successful conversion from Coats. Namibia scored their second try of the game to pull back to within five points before Thomas added his second of the half in the 28th minute.

Down 12-points with only four minutes remaining in the first half, Namibia struck quickly with two tries to level the game at 24-24 before the half time whistle. The Namibians used a five-metre lineout and a maul to score in the 37th minute before captain Johan Deysel finished off the final score of the first half.

Quattrin added his second try of the game to the scoreboard in the 49th minute to put the Canadians out front once again, 31-24. The 65-minute mark saw van der Berg break at tackle along the left sideline before running 30 metres for his team’s fifth try of the match but a missed conversion still gave Canada a narrow 31-29 lead.

Coats kicked his second successful penalty of the game in 71st minute to extend the Canadian lead to 34-29 but after taking several penalties around their own five-metre line, Josh Larsen was sent off with a yellow card setting up another Namibia try in the 77th minute. With the added conversion, Namibia took their first lead of the match 36-34.

Canada appeared to have mounted the comeback after Coats’ third successful penalty kick in the 80th minute, but with time remaining in the match, Namibia scored their final try of the game on the last play steal the victory by a final score of 43-37.

Lucas Rumball and Ben LeSage captained a match day roster that brought a healthy balance of young talent alongside players with international experience. Starting prop Djustice Sears-Duru earned his 40th cap while Winnipeg, Manitoba native Kyle Steeves and 2022 Toronto Arrows draft pick, Owain Ruttan, both earned their first cap for Canada after coming off the bench in the second half.

Saturday’s match was the second of two games Canada played during their European fall tour, presented by DHL. The Canadians faced the host Netherlands on November 12 where they earned a 37-25 victory.

CANADA’S MEN’S RUGBY TEAM MATCH DAY ROSTER vs NAMIBIA

1. Djustice Sears-Duru (Oakville, ON) – Unattached
2. Andrew Quattrin (Holland Landing, ON) – New England Free Jacks
3. Tyler Rowland (Mississauga, ON) – Toronto Arrows
4. Conor Keys (Stittsville, Ottawa, ON) – New England Free Jacks
5. Josh Larsen (Nanaimo, BC) – New England Free Jacks
6. Corey Thomas (Broome, Australia) – Unattached
7. Lucas Rumball (Scarborough, ON) – Toronto Arrows
8. Siaki Vikilani (Burnaby, BC) – Toronto Arrows
9. Jason Higgins (Cork, Ireland) – San Diego Legion
10. Robert Povey (Oxford, UK) – Houston Sabercats
11. Josiah Morra (Toronto, ON) – Canada Sevens
12. Josh Thiel (Victoria, BC) – James Bay AA / Canada Sevens
13. Ben LeSage (Calgary, AB) – Calgary Canucks
14. Andrew Coe (Markham, ON) – Rugby NY
15. Cooper Coats (Halifax, NS) – Halifax Tars / Canada Sevens

FINISHERS

16. Lindsey Stevens (Sydney, Australia) – Eastern Suburbs R.U.F.C.
17. Foster Dewitt (Courtenay, BC) – New England Free Jacks
18. Kyle Steeves (Winnipeg, MB) – Manitoba Wombats / Pacific Pride
19. Piers Von Dadelszen (Vancouver, BC) – Oxford University
20. Owain Ruttan (Cobourg, ON) – UBC
21. Ross Braude (Pretoria, South Africa) – Toronto Arrows
22. David Richard (Milton, ON) – Mississauga Blues / Canada Sevens
23. Brock Webster (Uxbridge, ON) – Oshawa Vikings / Canada Sevens