Canada final 31 man squad announced

[TRF_heineken]

Canada has announced their 31 man squad for the RWC:

Forwards

Tyler Ardron (captain), Ray Barkwill, Brett Beukeboom, Hubert Buydens, Aaron Carpenter, Jamie Cudmore, Nanyak Dala, Kyle Gilmour, Jason Marshall, John Moonlight, Evan Olmstead, Benoit Piffero, Djustice Sears-Duru, Jebb Sinclair, Richard Thorpe, Andrew Tiedemann, Doug Wooldridge

Backs

Conor Trainor, Liam Underwood, DTH van der Merwe, Jeff Hassler, Ciaran Hearn, Nathan Hirayama, Harry Jones, Phil Mack, Jamie Mackenzie, Phil Mackenzie, Matt Evans, Nick Blevins, Connor Braid, Gordon McRorie

It will be 18 of these guys' first time to play at the World Cup.

 

[HowieLO6]

Did not know that Thorpe had found a Canadian passport! Will be good to see him play, always looked promising at Irish, but never seemed to quite cut it.

 

[Canuck]

It'll be interesting to see how these guys play and gel together. Lots of young, unproven talent.

No James Pritchard (he is 36 but still our best goal-kicker) but Cudmore's leadership will be tested.

Ardon, Cudmore, Sinclair, Thorpe, DTH and Hassler are probably our better known players but we've got a few other guys that could emerge with a good WC and get contracts overseas next year, keeps an eye on young prop Sears-Dru and Underwood.

Canadian rugby has seemed to be a bit stagnant lately (not Sevens but that's an entirely different matter). On a bit of a losing streak and a highly disappointing performance at the PNC. Especially with the USA improving quickly we need some upgrades within our organization in order to stay relevant as a strong Tier 2 nation.

 

[beerholder]

Watching Canada's match against USA, in spite of their loss, I would guess they'll kick our asses if the fairy godmother of inspiration doesn't pay the oaks a visit.