2014 Canadian Rugby Championship and General Canadian Rugby Chat.

[canadafan]

B.C. Rugby News has a write up of the U20 camp. Sounds like the loose head, Bryce Worden, is a serious prospect. Also, it is said that Peter O'Leary is a better prospect than his older brother. Some interesting tidbits in there.

The U20 camp is completed and now the coaches have the tough job of consulting and reviewing video to come up with 30 players to be used in the Romania and USA matches. Coach Jeff Williams has a number of expert coaches to consult with in this task, just at Shawnigan there's Tim Murdy the former Canada U20 coach, Gary Dukelow the front row advisor to the women's national XVs team, and Ander Munro the former Canada #10. Also helping out is brother Morgan a former professional #9 and former Canada 7s coach also Shane Thompson another former Canada 7s player and head coach and head of the BC Elite Youth 7s. Both UVic and UBC coaches (Doug Tate, Ramses Langston, Curry Hitchborn) are helping out with the camp and selection process. Also former national players Dan Pletch and Joe Haley have been assisting and the newly appointed Development Manager Ken Goodland is helping as well. Jack Hanratty the provincial coach from Nova Scotia and former development officer at Leinster Rugby is also assisting. It's an impressive group of individuals with a lot of knowledge on what it takes to play top level rugby so I'm confident they will identify the players needed to move forward.

Let's take a look at some of the players and which positions they are competing for.

Loosehead Prop: Brandon Blakie, Cali Martinez, Bryce Worden, Nik Hildebrand
Hooker: Paddy Findlay, Vincent Gionet, John Shaw, Joel Bratten
Tighthead Prop: Conor Young, Justin Alyward, Matt Tierney
Second Row: Mac Kea, Nate Thomas, Dillon Goos, Paul Cuilini, Matt Murphy
Flankers: Phil Berna, Adrian Wadden, Mitch Rothman, Ollie Nott, Alex Colborne
#8: Luke Bradley, Lucas Rumball
Scrum-half: Peter O'Leary, Tony Pomroy, Owen Brombel, Dan Joyce
Flyhalf: Guiseppe Du Toit, Rodd Giles, Robbie Povey
Wing: Toby Digney, Theo Sauder, Tim Hart, Karsten Leitner, Brandon Waeyen
Centres: Emile Sehic, Mitch Santili, Chris Miles, Dylan Horgan
Fullback: Harjun Gill, Andrew Coe, Mitch Richardson

Some interesting names pop up scanning the list. Peter O'Leary is Shane O'Leary's younger brother. You may remember that Shane came over from Young Munster and helped Canada to its best finish in recent history when Canada finished second in Chile two years ago. Some say Peter may be even better (I'm sure Shane's not reading this) but plays scrum-half. Shane is now with Connacht's second team looking to break into the first squad. Peter O'Leary is battling another Irish-based player Dan Joyce for that position as well Tony Pomroy of Newfoundland and Owen Brombel of Ontario.

The battle at #10 should be interesting, Guiseppe du Toit of course plays with UVic and has been tested out with the senior team in the ARC the last two years, he's up against two players from England Rob Povey and Rodd Giles. Rob Povey actually attends Rugby school where it all started many years ago. So there seems a wealth of talent and competition this year.

At #8 two familiar names, Lucas Rumball from Queen's was on the U20 side last year and Luke Bradley is a local Island product from Port Alberni now attending UVic.

At flanker there's Phil Berna from St. George's and UBC who went on the Maple Leafs 7s tour to South America, Ollie Nott a UVic player who was a member of the Vikes University 7s championship team last year.

UBC are well represented with Harjun Gill, Theo Sauder, Karsten Leitner, Andrew Coe as well as Phil Berna. [ed. Calixto Martinez also from UBC, plays 1, 2. EMS grad. Canada Rugby League U19.]

In the centres another Irish player with Canadian roots, Dylan Horgan, will match up against Emil Sehic of New Brunswick, Chris Miles of BC and Mitch Santilli of Ontario.

There's also an Australian based player, Connor Young, who will be competing for a front row position. The tight five is one area of special interest with Canada's U20 teams as recently the physicality hasn't been where it needs to be when matching up against the South American and European teams. So it's good news that they get to play the Romanians twice before the important USA games. Three years ago the Romanians who didn't qualify for the JWRT came over and defeated Canada twice in pre-tournament matches and it was in the physicality of the forwards that Canada was exposed. So this will be a good test and a good metric for comparison purposes. Hopefully with a front row expert like Gary Dukelow as part of the larger coaching team he'll provide some assistance and guidance.

We're looking forward to the selection announcement and the March matches which will determine Canada's U20 path this year.

[ed. addition from reader]
Bryce Worden, originally from Sussex NB, moved to Burnaby 2 years ago. 6 ft 4, 275lbs. :shock: :shock: Incredibly strong for a young man. Has been working out daily with BCRU S+C coach Conan Cooper for 2 yrs. Started every game (I believe) this year on the BLRC Premier team and held his own and more vs the best in the Province. Was a major contributor to the BLRC's 1st Div Provincial Championship last year. HUGE ball carrier.

[ed. if you have insights on other players on the list email [email protected] and I'll append the comments here.]

http://www.bcrugbynews.com/show_news.cfm?ID=1480

 

[Draggs]

Ospreys: Littleguy will love this. Ardron got himself the captain's armband and played the full 80 minutes. Unfortunately for Opreys, they suffered a shocking loss on the road as Treviso was awarded an 80th minute penalty try from a scrum and nailed the conversion to win 23-20. Ospreys have definitely been missing Hassler since he got hurt.

Ardron is doing quite well at 8 for the Ospreys. He was brought over from blindside to accommodate James King/Dan Lydiate, and alongside Justin Tipuric, they have formed an effective back row. Ardron not afraid to give the ball a run, and challenging Baker hard for first choice 8.

Hassler is a huge loss, not only because of the skills he can bring, but because of the lack of depth out wide. Dirksen has lost pace since his injuries over the past two years, and Walker is often injured as well. Any Canadian second rows you can send over? (except Cudmore, we don't need to add to Ian Evans' card collection)

 

[canadafan]

Connor Hamilton, at UBC, 6'6, think he is 21 was captain of the U20s, could be a surprise selection for the RWC Squad, but will probably be a year to early for him.

- - - Updated - - -

Another guy is Cameron Pierce at Pau, his contract is coming up soon and don't believe he has re-signed with them yet. He is more game ready than Hamilton would be.

 

[Beerfalo]

I was about to suggest Cam Pierce. He hasn't been able to find a starting role in France but is he only 23(?) and has been a part of the Clermont and Pau systems. He has a big body and is pretty strong. Pau looks on pace to finish top of the Pro D2 and gain automatic promotion to Top 14 so I'd hope he could stay on there if he isn't offered a starting role elsewhere. Would definitely love to see him playing for Ospreys though.

Pierce and Hamilton should be a big part of the national team going forward towards Japan'19. I doubt either makes the 2015 RWC roster, though Pierce is more likely. Cudmore and Phelan seem the most likely starting pair and Hotson is the well known safe option to reserve even if he's rather lackluster. Then there's Buekeboom who is also young and in Europe.

 

[canadafan]

I would pick Beukeboom over Hotson every day of the week.

 

[Beerfalo]

I might do a quick round up after training later tonight for this past weekend. But I wanted to leave y'all with this.

http://cwrugby.com/blogs/post/rugby-returns-exhibition-vseattle-bcru
CW Game Day Roster: https://twitter.com/cwrugby/status/561646228857831424/photo/1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiHZ2XqAMaw&feature=youtu.be
http://cwrugby.com/blogs/post/they-came-they-conquered-cwvsseattle-premierrugby

Also keep in mind that the Saracens were apparently without their USA Eagles players against a peculiar but star studded CW lineup. I like the Saracens odds of gaining promotion to the CDI Premier League unless Meraloma steps up BIG. Also I don't know why I expected a more professional looking field from one of the biggest clubs in Canada.

According to the first article Kleeberger wants to try and earn his way back into RWC contention. With Gilmour, Sinclair, Thorpe, Moonlight and Dala already staking strong claims and Justin Blanchet starting with Bedford, I don't like Kleebergers odds.

I'd probably take Buekeboom over Hotson as well but my preferred option would be Cudmore paired with Sinclair and Phelan on the bench. Sinclair is better than the Canadian trio and sees time at Lock for London Irish. Plus we have a bunch of talented Back Row so he's "expendable"(not really).

Preferred Pack:
Hubert Buydens - Aaron Carpenter - Jason Marshall
Jebb Sinclair - Jamie Cudmore
Justin Blanchet - Tyler Ardron(8-man) - Richard Thorpe

 

[canadafan]

I agree about Kleeberger, and I have been a big fan of his.

I like your pack and would probably go the same right now. The only hiccup I could see if Pierce really hitting his stride, but even then he would probably just start on the bench ahead of Phelan then.

 

[Beerfalo]

If Pierce can continue to get playing time at Pau then I think he has to be considered for a spot at the very least. Hopefully he gets a chance to play in the PNC and can leave an impression on Crowley. I'd say rest Cudmore and let the foursome of Phelan, Hotson, Buekeboom and Pierce fight it out to earn RWC spots.

I'd also give the starting Fly-Half job during the PNC to Liam Underwood and see if he still has what it takes. I thought he looked alright out there playing 7s today but XVs is a different game and the RWC is a whole other level. Stick him out there with McRorie at Scrum-Half and Braid at Inside Center and you'll have two serviceable options should Underwood need to come off.

It sucks that Kleeberger is highly unlikely to make the cut. He's one of my favorite players and probably one of the most popular guys in Canadian rugby history. But sadly such is life in sports.

Also can't believe Castaway Wanderers stuck Buydens at Lock. He should be getting 80 minutes a game at Loosehead to help prepare for the RWC. He should actually probably be starting in one of the big three Euro leagues but that's a whole other can of worms. Hopefully it was just a one time thing as it was technically an exhibition match, though the Seattle Saracens are a super strong opponent.

 

[Beerfalo]

I know it's just the first game of Day 2 but Canada just looked disgustingly pathetic against Portugal. They barely looked like they want to be there. How they only lost 26-0 I have no idea. Those players should be ashamed of themselves and it'll almost assuredly be more of the same in Vegas. Why can't our damn starting lineup just get healthy so we can actually send a quality team for the first time this damn season. The only team that is more shocking performance wise lately has been Samoa.

 

[LittleGuy]

Agreed Beerfalo that was shocking stuff. Day One was underwhelming but we were in a tough pool I thought the boys were saving themselves for today but.....guess that was the wrong idea. Fuailefau in particular was beyond pathetic, can't believe he wasn't pulled, maybe we have another coach who refuses to hold players accountable for poor play?

 

[Beerfalo]

Here's a little round up of last weeks play almost in time for this weeks games to kick off haha.

Weekend of January 31st/February 1st 2015

London Scottish: Scottish have realized what every knowledgeable Canadian fan already knew. Connor Braid is an Inside Centre through and through and again that's where he played as he got the start in a 29-12 win over Bedford.

Bedford Blues: Pritchard doesn't seem to need days off even at his age as he got the game at Fullback again. Unfortunately he was 1 for 2 on conversions as the Blues feel to Braid's Scottish. Justin Blanchet got the start at Blindside and is listed as subbing off at 52'. I sure hope this kid doesn't have dreams of England like his brother(his brother plays for England 7s) and that Canada can cap him this summer.

Cornish Pirates: Matt Evans got the start at Fullback in a 45-33 win against Bristol and even connected with a drop goal apparently. Glad he's finally healthy as he's an important player for both Pirates and Canada.

Doncaster Knights: The Knights hit a slump as they lost 25-5 to a very strong Worcester team. At least Hotson and Phelan both got the start at Lock, with Phelan coming off at 63'.

Plymouth Albion: Plymouth is shockingly turning their season around and I'm glad for our Canucks sake. Tiedemann got the start at Tighthead and Buekeboom got a start at Lock and looks like they played the whole game in a 22-8 win over a Rotherham ***ans. I personally didn't think they had it in them. Canada eligible Mark Kohler didn't play.

Pau: Future Canadian starter Cam Pierce got himself action with Pro D2 leading Pau for the 2nd week in a row. From what I'm reading Pierce was subbed on at half-time in a 20-0 win over Biarritz. Hopefully he continues to get more game time the rest of the season so he can challenge for a RWC spot.

Agen: Agen have rocketed up the standings and now sit 2nd in the Pro D2. Taylor Paris has the wing locked down and got the full game but didn't get on the score sheet. Jason Marshall has been a reserve instead of starter for the most part since arriving back in France and this week was no different. Marshall got on at the 58th minute. Still Agen won 41-5 and the team is the thick of the hunt for promotion playoff.

Sale Sharks: Holy crap Phil Mackenzie lives and actually got the full 80' start on the wing. Unfortunately Newcastle thumped Sale 39-10 in the LV=Cup.

London Welsh: Thorpe didn't get much playing time but went on with 11 minutes to go in a close(on the score sheet at least) 20-15 loss to Saracens in LV=Cup action.

Dublin University/Trinity College: Jack Fitzpatrick's team was back in action this week and had a dominant 41-19 win over Malone. Can't find the match report(saw Malone's but didn't catch anything about Jack) so no idea what our Irishman did.

CDI Premier League: McRorie is with UBCOB Ravens and was listed at starting Fly-Half during their game against Capilano. Blevins was also listed at Inside Center. Kinda shocked that the Ravens wound up losing 25-16, especially with Sean Ferguson at Fullback. I already made a post about Castaway Wanderers who have a number of national team forwards. The rest of team Canada hopefuls seem to be hurt or sucking in New Zealand. No idea what Kyle Gilmour has been up to.

Cudmore, Sinclair, Ardron and DTH all had the week off from play.

 

[LittleGuy]

Well we narrowly slipped by Japan and now it's against Samoa for a consolation prize and desperately needed points.

Lot's of empty seats, I'd heard ticket sales for Wellington had been poor especially compared to previous events, I'm guessing this game is a good chance for fans to take a pee or grab another beer which is making it worse.

Edit: An awful first five minutes which summed up how badly these sides have declined this season, at least it was followed by a few decent scores and Moonlight taking the bull by the horns helped us salvage something out of this tournament. Need those injured guys back so some of the weaker players that came along for this event can be left at home. Samoa were abysmal, relegation level bad.

 

[Beerfalo]

Quick Round Up of February 7th-8th:

London Scottish: Braid is an Inside Center through and through and that's where he spent the full 80 again as Scottish unfortunately fell to Bristol by a score of 25-17. Hopefully he can stay there this summer/fall now that Underwood is back with the 7s team and seemingly healthy.

Bedford Blues & Plymouth Albion: Plymouth was on a two game win streak and looked like they were turning their season around. But then they walked into Pritchard's house and everything came crashing down. Buekeboom and Tiedemann got the start for Plymouth while Pritchard and Justin Blanchet started for Bedford. Plymouth didn't seem to have much fight as Bedford won 38-8 and Pritchard connected on a penalty and 4 conversions.

Cornish Pirates: Matt Evans was again starting Fullback for the Pirates. Unfortunately for them, and Plymouth, Moseley was able to come out with a 22-18 win.

Doncaster Knights: Hotson and Phelan were the starting Lock pairing again and Doncaster was able to right their ship as they went over Yorkshire Carnegie 29-16. Phelan was subbed off at the 65th minute.

Pau: Cam Pierce found himself on the game sheet again with the Pro D2 leaders. From what I'm seeing he got subbed into the game at the 25th minute as helped Pau to a 26-3 win over Massy.

Agen: You win some, you lose some. Then sometimes you just crap the bed. Agen faced off against 2nd from the bottle of the table Bourgoin and lost 13-9. Taylor Paris got the full game on the wing as usual while Jason Marshall subbed on at the 60th minute. Really wish Marshall was getting more playing time but at least he's not suiting up as a Lock in the CDI Premier League……

Ospreys: Ardron got a bit of a break as he found himself on the bench as Ospreys faced off with Bath in LV=Cup action. Ardron subbed on at the 64th minute and Ospreys pulled out the 13-10 win with a try and conversion as full-time was about to end.

London Welsh: Thorpe got himself the start at Openside Flanker and logged a solid 58' minutes before coming off. Unfortunately for him Welsh lost to Dragons 17-13 in LV=Cup play to continue their winless season. It was also their 3rd one score game in the last three weeks. With him starting regularly at 7 in the Premiership you'd think he has the inside track to cracking our 1st XV in September.

I mentioned it above but with Underwood seemingly healthy then maybe Braid could start at Inside Center. It would be nice to see Underwood starting every week in the CDI league to see if he still has it as opposed to playing 7s but such is life. Cam Pierce has been getting on the game day roster with Pau and I'm hoping he's been impressing them. If he can continue to get some playing time the rest of the season then he should put himself in contention for a RWC spot. Also hoping he impresses enough that Pau bring him up to the Top 14 with them. Also glad Buekeboom is getting more playing time recently. He's young enough that he can improve and I really hope he does. An improved Buekeboom alongside Pierce and Hamilton could be real solid for Canada in a position we aren't very strong or deep at.

 

[canadafan]

Braid has been brought in to Glasgow to cover during the 6 Nations, not sure how long he will be there though. Apparently Glasgow is very thin at 10/12, so hopefully he gets some starts. Really looks like Pierce is starting to hit his stride, which is very good news for Canada.

 

[Beerfalo]

So Canada landed in a pretty decent group this week at Vegas 7s. England should run through them but Kenya and Argentina are both winnable games. Sean Duke is busy trying to get into medical school which is a blow to the team but good luck to him. His original replacement was supposed to be Jordan Wilson-Ross, but Mike Scholz is now healthy and has slotted into the lineup, bumping JWR down to the Maple Leafs. I don't want to get excited because I'm tired of being hurt but I think this is the best shot they'll have to finish 2nd in their group this year and get some real points.
Canada's Roster for Las Vegas - (Club, CRC Team) Hometown, Province
Admir Cejvanovic - (Burnaby Lake RFC/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Mike Scholz - (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
Mike Fuailefau - (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
Lucas Hammond - (Toronto Nomads/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON
Harry Jones - (Capilano RFC/BC Bears) North Vancouver, BC
Pat Kay - (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Duncan,BC
John Moonlight - Captain (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Pickering, ON
Pat Parfrey - (James Bay AA/Atlantic Rock) St. John's, NL
Conor Trainor - (UBCOB Ravens/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Liam Underwood - (Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON
Sean White - (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
Adam Zaruba - (Capilano RFC/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC

Las Vegas Sevens Schedule - February 13-15
Day One
Canada vs. Kenya at 5:50pm local (5:50pm PT/8:50pm ET)
Canada vs. England at 8:24pm local (8:24pm PT/11:24pm ET)
Day Two
Canada vs. Argentina at 11:52am local (11:52am PT/2:52pm ET)

Canada Maple Leafs squad for Invitational Tournament:
Thyssen de Goede – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
Guiseppe du Toit – (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Maple Ridge, BC
Philip Berna – (UBC Thunderbirds) Vancouver, BC
Jorden Sandover-Best – (UBC Thunderbirds/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Geoff Girling – (Richmond RFC) Richmond, BC
Matt Mullins – (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Belleville, ON
Nathan Rees – (UBC Thunderbirds)
Mitch Santilli – (James Bay AA) Brantford, ON
Theo Sauder – (UBC Thunderbirds) Vancouver, BC
Jack Smith – (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) lakefield
Jake Webster – (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON
Jordan Wilson-Ross - Feel bad for him but at least he should get playing time.

Not a bad development team. Hope they've done well today. Rugby Canada also sent two Women's Maple Leafs teams to compete in Vegas.

Edmonton Gold sent 5 youth(boy and girl) teams down to compete in the various Invitationals. I asked my club president today how many kids from our youth program went down and he said around 25 which is really impressive since only 60 kids went down as part of the ERU.

 

[canadafan]

Maple Leafs have won their first two games:

Maple Leafs 14-0 Mana Utah Select
Maple Leafs 29-5 Florida Select

 

[Beerfalo]

That was beautiful pool play by Canada. They dominated Kenya but let it slip away literally in the final seconds. Then they bounce back to upset England, then go on to dominate Argentina today. It's definitely a better feeling not having our guys contend for another Shield haha. Next up is the Yanks later tonight. They've looked pretty damn scary lately but I think our boys can give them a real challenge if they play how they did for most of Vegas.

I've been especially impressed with Underwood since he came back. He hasn't been perfect but he's definitely looked good the last two weeks, IMO. Glad Crowley is down there and able to keep an eye on him. Hopefully he gets called to Canada 'A' in the Pacific Rugby Championship thing to give him some quality XVs play at Fly-Half. Our backs would be so much better if an inform Underwood was at 10 and Braid was starting at 12. Speaking of Braid, looking like he'll be on the bench for Glasgow in tomorrows game against Zebre. Kinda wish he'd be starting with London Scottish if he isn't starting at Glasgow but such is life in pro rugby. Maybe this, plus hopefully a great summer/fall, gets him another shot next year with the Warriors.

 

[canadafan]

Well that quarterfinal was ugly

 

[canadafan]

So, um, is Ardron ever going to win as captain?

 

[LittleGuy]

So, um, is Ardron ever going to win as captain?

I think he offended some sort of rugby leadership god or something. He's cursed when he puts on the captain's armband. I know Opreys and occasionally Canada haven't been fielding their best lineups at all times when he has been in charge but all games he's captained bar possibly Canada vs. Moari were winnable contests. Also the teams play when he's captained have been especially vulnerable to unforced errors and poor play.

Bottom line- at this point why bother making him captain? He clearly isn't adding anything special in the role even if he isn't poor he certainly isn't good at the role. His confidence down the line is getting destroyed game by game, and both Ospreys and especially Canada have other options.