[Pacific Nations Cup] Canada vs. Japan. 07/06/14

[LittleGuy]

Canada vs. Japan. 07/06/14, 6:00 p.m. PDT (9:00 p.m. EDT) Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)

Broadcast: TSN1 (live)

Canada and Japan kick off their 2014 Pacific Nations Cup campaigns on the West coast of Canada. The Blossoms have had Canada's number for the past decade and the home side will be hungry to finally notch a win over what's become a nemesis. Japan will look to build off their Asian Five Nations campaign and this will be a step up in competition for them. The United States the other pool member will be playing Scotland this weekend.

Hopefully they'll be a good home crowd out to support the boys, this will be the first test in B.C. since the Georgia game nearly two years ago, temporary seats will be added to Swangard to boost capacity.

It's also unfortunate how abbreviated the PNC is this year, very dissapointing that it's such a small schedule and there is still no clarification on whether there will be a November final between the two pool winners.

Lineups:

Canada

1. Hubert Buydens – (Manawatu Turbos/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saskatoon, SK
2. Ray Barkwill – (Niagara Wasps RFC/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON
3. Jason Marshall – (Atlantique Stade Rochelais) Vancouver, BC
4. Tyler Hotson – (London Scottish RFC) Vancouver, BC
5. Jamie Cudmore – (ASM Clermont Auvergne) Squamish, BC
6. Jebb Sinclair – (London Irish/Atlantic Rock) Fredericton, NB
7. John Moonlight – (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Pickering, ON
8. Tyler Ardron – Captain (Ospreys/Ontario Blues) Lakefield, ON
9. Gordon McRorie – (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
10. Harry Jones – (UBCOB Ravens/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
11. Taylor Paris – (SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne) Barrie, ON
12. Nick Blevins – (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
13. Ciaran Hearn – (Castaway Wanderers/Atlantic Rock) Conception Bay South, NL
14. Jeff Hassler – (Ospreys/Prairie Wolf Pack) Okotoks, AB
15. James Pritchard – (Bedford Blues) Parkes, NSW, Australia

Bench

16. Andrew Tiedemann – (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
17. Aaron Carpenter – (Cornish Pirates RFC) Brantford, ON
18. Jake Ilnicki – (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) Williams Lake, BC
19. Jon Phelan – (Castaway Wanderers/Atlantic Rock) Montreal, QC
20. Adam Kleeberger – (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) White Rock, BC
21. Phil Mack – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
22. Connor Braid – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
23. DTH van der Merwe – (Glasgow Warriors) Regina, SK

Unavailable due to Injury:

Nanyak Dala – (Castaway Wanderers/Saskatoon Wild Oats) Saskatoon, SK
Liam Underwood – (Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON


Japan

Starters

1. Masataka MIKAMI
2. Shota HORIE
3. Kensuke HATAKEYAMA
4. Hitoshi ONO
5. Luke THOMPSON
6. Justin IVES
7. Michael LEITCH (Captain)
8. Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI
9. Fumiaki TANAKA
10. Harumichi TATEKAWA
11. Akihito YAMADA
12. Yu TAMURA
13. Male SA'U
14. Yoshikazu FUJITA
15. Ayumu GOROMARU

Bench

16. Hisateru HIRASHIMA
17. Takeshi KIZU
18. Hiroshi YAMA****A
19. Shoji ITO
20. Shinya MAKABE
21. Hendrik TUI
22. Atsushi HIWASA
23. Toshiaki HIROSE

 

[Shaggy]

What's the skinny on player availability LG ... are we likely to see a full strength Canadian team, or will there be some notable absences?

 

[LittleGuy]

What's the skinny on player availability LG ... are we likely to see a full strength Canadian team, or will there be some notable absences?

Hopefully it will be a decent side but some guys will be missing.

Van De Merwe is out till October ,might even miss the November games, and Evans is also likely out due to a broken leg. Scholz got a little banged up in 7's last week but I'm not sure how bad it is I think he'll be good if he's selected. Cudmore is also rumoured to not be showing up this June which is a shame, surely he could turn out for the Scotland game for 40-60 minutes and be a huge boost to the side.

I haven't heard anything definitive on anyone else and I think they are ready to go, some of the RFU championship guys are already wrapped up for the season and other than Evans seem to be healthy.

 

[jonny24]

Any chance it'll be on TSN? A quick google didn't turn up much. Should be a good game, really hope we get the win to start off the year.

And wow two years seems a long time to not have any matches in BC.

 

[LittleGuy]

Any chance it'll be on TSN? A quick google didn't turn up much. Should be a good game, really hope we get the win to start off the year.

And wow two years seems a long time to not have any matches in BC.

Last year Sportsnet World had rights to the Pacific Nations Cup and they were shown on that channel, but I'm not entirely sure if they still have them, the IRB also streamed some of them live on their website. If TSN have the rights it's not hard for them to send a crew to Burnaby.

 

[Shaggy]

Hopefully it will be a decent side but some guys will be missing.

Van De Merwe is out till October ,might even miss the November games, and Evans is also likely out due to a broken leg. Scholz got a little banged up in 7's last week but I'm not sure how bad it is I think he'll be good if he's selected. Cudmore is also rumoured to not be showing up this June which is a shame, surely he could turn out for the Scotland game for 40-60 minutes and be a huge boost to the side.

I haven't heard anything definitive on anyone else and I think they are ready to go, some of the RFU championship guys are already wrapped up for the season and other than Evans seem to be healthy.

Well at least they won't have half of the squad rushing off to the Sevens World Cup this year, and they should be able to capitalise on the depth that was created last year ... a shame about Van De Merwe and Cudmore though

 

[canadafan]

Although he wouldn't be starting, Flagg is out too. He is busy trying to land an ITM cup contract.

 

[Big Ewis]

interested in this. Of course I hope both teams will be close to full strength, we want to be able to assess where the sides are. The RWC is close...both those teams I remember played well against France in the pools.

 

[LittleGuy]

Although he wouldn't be starting, Flagg is out too. He is busy trying to land an ITM cup contract.

He might have been considered for a bench spot, not the end of the world he's more a depth guy. I'm guessing Buydens will be released by Manawatu (I hope!!!)

 

[canadafan]

Agreed that he is a depth guy, apparently he is playing lock down there right now.

 

[LittleGuy]

I haven't seen the Rugby Canada press release stating that Hamilton is healthy yet, a little worried about our Hooker stocks, I really like Barkwill as an impact sub in the 2nd half or maybe a one half starter at most. Piffero was a little dissapointing in November from what I saw and hasnt gotten much time in Federale 1 this year, his aerospace career takes a lot of his time I think. Carpenter at Hooker seemed to be a mixed bag this year for Pirates, I know he really dosen't like playing the position much.

 

[canadafan]

Apparently Hamilton has gone back to school, I think to be a lawyer. Probably best off to forget about him. Also I have heard that our French poach has been getting some game time at hooker in 3rd tier French rugby though.

 

[LittleGuy]

Apparently Hamilton has gone back to school, I think to be a lawyer. Probably best off to forget about him. Also I have heard that our French poach has been getting some game time at hooker in 3rd tier French rugby though.

If he's unavailable that isn't great news, though the guy was so injury prone he was unreliable, Barkwill backed by Piffero, with an experimental Carpenter possibly? Not inspirational choices but it is the Hooker position, we went into 2011 with an aging Riordan and an inexperienced Hamilton.

 

[LittleGuy]

Just heard an interview with Cudmore last week, says he wants to come out and play for Canada this summer and with Clermont losing today there is really no reason he can't.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

Just heard an interview with Cudmore last week, says he wants to come out and play for Canada this summer and with Clermont losing today there is really no reason he can't.

I think Cudmore wants to do as much as he can as his career is beginning to wind down. He is locked in with Clermont until the RWC after which I think he will retire. It's really unfortunate that he didn't get more game time with the Canadian team as he is a force every time he played for us and our pack plays far better with him in the lineup.

 

[Big Ewis]

Just heard an interview with Cudmore last week, says he wants to come out and play for Canada this summer and with Clermont losing today there is really no reason he can't.

At least with Canada he has a chance of winning a game...

 

[LittleGuy]

I think Cudmore wants to do as much as he can as his career is beginning to wind down. He is locked in with Clermont until the RWC after which I think he will retire. It's really unfortunate that he didn't get more game time with the Canadian team as he is a force every time he played for us and our pack plays far better with him in the lineup.

I wonder if Crowley and the selectors are cracking the whip a little bit heading into 2015, we've fielded some pretty piece meal lineups since the Mid Year tests in 2012, combined with an infurating lack of tests this year we really need to maximize those limited chances.

 

[rusty_lock]

Just purchased my tickets for Canada v. Japan and unfortunately there was still very good selection in all sections. All of the P2 tix were gone but it looked like 50 percent of P3 and P4 were still on offer. P1 is VIP with a bunch of other benefits and at $150 a pop so I suspect that a good number of those are going to given away to sponsors and RC elite. Hopefully ticket sales improve and we do better than the pitiful crowd that showed up for Georgia. I was just at the CDI premiership final yesterday and that managed to draw (guessing) 1000 in pretty dodgy weather. The week before Japan, as part of the BCRU's 125 year celebration, Canada will run out against a BC allstar team at the same facility so it should be interesting to see what kind of crowd turns up for that.

Seeing Cudmore back in the lineup will be great. He had a bit of a calf ****le but is supposed to be 100% healthy and family up in Squamish really want to see him. He is still a powerhouse player and will make a massive contribution. DTH hurt is a disappointment but Hassler has been brilliant so we have a ready made replacement. Jones has really distinguished himself on the 7's circuit this year so I would expect him to start at 10. I know that Hirayama is also an option but I see him more as coming off the bench. Pritchard has indicated he is "hoping to make an appearance this summer for the team" so I suspect that with Evans injured that sorts us at full back. To me the really big questions are in the centres, Mackenzie, Hearn, Scholz, Trainor? Not really sure to honest.

In the pack I think it picks itself except for hooker as LG noted in an earlier post.

1. Buydens
2. Carpenter ?
3. Marshall
4. Cudmore
5. Sinclair
6. Dala
7. Moonlight
8. Ardron

9. Mack

 

[canadafan]

My guess for our starting line up would be:

1. Buydens
2. Carpenter
3. Marshall
4. Cudmore
5. Hotson
6. Sinclair
7. Moonlight
8. Ardron

9. Mack
10. Underwood
11. Paris
12. Mackenzie (?) (is he injured, he never features for Sale anymore)
13. Trainor
14. Hassler
15. Pritchard.

 

[canadafan]

Hopefully with Hassler doing well with the Osprey as well as Paris with Agen and our 7s side doing so well, more of our guys will pick up pro contacts. Moonlight, Trainor and Mack really should be pros. I can see Douglas getting signed too, he is young and is already doing well.