Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team wins 35-22 over Romania in Ottawa

Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team took their first win over Romania since 1995 on Friday night at TD Place in Ottawa, winning 35-22 to wrap up the team’s two-match tour in the nation’s capital.

Canada took advantage of early Romanian penalties to take a 6-0 lead off two penalty kicks from Peter Nelson. Romania did the same, cutting the score in half, but Nic Benn furthered Canada’s lead. The Canadians went on the attack, stringing together several phases. Nelson kicked the ball ahead, with Benn running onto it for the try, scoring his first for Canada in just his second match. A conversion from Nelson gave Canada a 13-3 lead.

Romania was assessed a yellow card on the play leading to Benn’s try, but it was Romania who scored with their player in the sin bin, capitalizing on a lineout at Canada’s 5 metre line. Moments later, Canada’s Kyle Baillie seemed to score in a similar manner, but the try was called off due to an obstruction penalty, with Canada leading 13-10 at half-time.

“We saw opportunities in the first half, and I think we capitalized on a lot of them. We probably left a couple scores out there, but going in 60, 70 minutes, the game was still in the balance and the boys fought incredibly deep,” said Nelson. “These ones feel really good, and you have to dig deep like that.”  

Canada came out the gates flying to start the second half, with Ethan Fryer scoring on his debut for Canada. With the Canadians keeping their composure and maintaining patience at the breakdown, Fryer launched the ball over the line to extend Canada’s lead. Another Nelson conversion put Canada at 20-10.

“It felt amazing. I’ve wanted to play for Canada for a long time,” said Fryer. “Having my first game out there be a game where everyone kept their belief throughout the whole game, even when it would have been easy to lose it—we kept it there and we kept our hands to the plow. We didn’t look back and I’m happy about that.”

Romania found a break in Canada’s defence to tighten the score, before scoring once more and going up 22-20 to take the lead for the first time.

“I thought they were outstanding right throughout the game. There were periods where we let Romania in, some soft tries really on occasion, but that’s test rugby. It’s never going to be easy, and you can’t switch off for a moment. So full credit, particularly at 22-20, to come back and win it,” said Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team Head Coach Kingsley Jones. “We took on a real physical forward pack and came out on top. A lot of guys got new caps, some guys getting a second cap. It’s great to get them on the field and build this team.”

Andrew Quattrin scored back-to-back to help Canada regain the lead, scoring the first off a maul at Romania’s 5 metre line and the second by taking advantage of a failed Romania lineout with Romania down to 14 players due to a second yellow card. Nelson converted Quattrin’s first try, and Canada led 32-22.

“They’re physical guys. We knew we had to front up, and I think discipline probably helped them out a bit. When we sorted that out, things went well. It was a good game, it was a good team effort. We cleaned some stuff up, and we can be a lot better,” said Quattrin. “I love playing in Canada. Getting support for the team means a lot to us. We don’t get to play at home much, so when we play and when we win at home it means a lot to us.”

Romania pushed hard in the final few minutes, but defensive efforts from Canada, including a standout defensive save by Takoda McMullin, kept Romania away.

“It’s just such a good culture on the team and good leadership, especially from [Lucas] Rumball and Ben [LeSage]. They just calm guys down,” said Conor Keys. “We knew we were in the fight. We had one mistake, they capitalized. The rest of the game we were in control and we felt comfortable knowing that we were going to get another chance. We just backed our leaders and stuck to the process.”

Nelson sealed the deal for Canada in the final minute, with a penalty kick stretching Canada’s lead to 35-22.

Along with Fryer, Calixto Martinez, Dewald Kotze and Mark Balaski all entered the game in the second half to earn their first caps for Canada. Fryer was named the Player of the Match.

Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team is back in action on home soil this August, taking on Japan at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver on August 25 to kick off the Pacific Nations Cup. Tickets are currently available for purchase here.