February 16, 2016
Canada Clashes Against Brazil in Americas Rugby Championship Match
Doug Coil
Interim Senior Men’s Head Coach Francois Ratier has made five changes for Saturday’s Americas Rugby Championship clash with Brazil at Westhills Stadium.
Djustice Sears-Duru will get his first start of the tournament at loosehead prop. Sears-Duru joins Jake Ilnicki, tightheadprop and Ray Barkwill at hooker in the front row. Barkwill will captain Canada for the first time. Paul Ciulini who gets his third straight start at lock will team with Liam Chisholm, who made his test debut against the USA last weekend, will start at lock. The backrow remains unchanged with Lucas Rumball, Alistair Clark and Clay Panga.
The backs will see Andrew Ferguson play scrum half and link with Gradyn Bowd at fly half. Nick Blevins is paired with Brock Staller in the centers. Dan Moor joins Maguire on the wing and Pat Parfrey makes his third straight start at fullback.
Reserves Eric Howard, Rob Brouwer, Mike Hamson, Jake Robinson, Joe Dolesau and Brett Johnson could earn their first test caps if they enter the match.
Francois Ratier indicated that “the players are ready to play Brazil. There is a very good atmosphere in the team and the energy has been high since our last game. We’re ready to go.”
“We’ve prepared for this home game as we did for the Uruguay game. Nothing is different. We have the same energy and the same type of players on the field. I’m sure we’re going to respond to the challenge.”
Canada enters Saturday’s clash in third place in the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship standings. They opened the Americas Rugby Championship with a 33-17 win over Uruguay at Westhills Stadium before losing 30-22 to the USA in Austin, Texas, last weekend.
This Saturday’s game against Brazil is an historic one, as it will be the first time the two sides have ever met in an official test match. Brazil are ranked 42nd in the world and have performed well in close bonus point losses to Chile and Uruguay in the first two rounds.
Ratier depicted Brazil’s style of play in this comment, “we’ve watched their last two games and it’s a team that likes playing rugby and never gives up. They like to offload the ball and kick the ball a lot. I’m expecting a very open style of rugby from Brazil.”
Saturday’s game kicks off at 7pm ET / 4pm PT and can be seen LIVE at www.rugbycanada.ca. Tickets to the game are still available. It may also be viewed on ESPN 3 (WatchESPN.com)
Like Canada, Brazil’s side is captained by a hooker, Daniel Danielewicz. He is part of a new front row, as tight-head prop Jardel Vettorato has reportedly played his last test for the Tupis to concentrate on his career as a lawyer. He is replaced by Vitor Ancera, while the loose-head spot is taken by Jonatas Paulo.
Lucas Duque moves from scrum-half to fly-half in place of Brazil’s regular flyhalf, David Harvey. Brazil will miss Harvey in the lineup, as he kicked all seven of his attempts at goal in a losing effort last weekend to Uruguay.
Canada Squad: 1. Djustice Sears-Duru 2. Ray Barkwill (C) 3. Jake Ilnicki 4. Paul Ciulini
5. Liam Chisholm 6. Lucas Rumball 7. Alistair Clark 8. Clay Panga 9. Andrew Ferguson
10. Gradyn Bowd 11. Duncan Maguire 12. Nick Blevins 13. Brock Staller 14. Dan Moor
15. Pat Parfrey 16. Eric Howard 17. Hubert Buydens 18. Rob Brouwer 19. Kyle Baillie 20. Michael Hamson 21. Jacob Robinson 22. Joe Dolesau 23. Brett Johnson Coaches: Francois Ratier – Interim Head Coach, Jamie Cudmore – Forwards/defence coach, Graeme Moffat – Attack coach, Mike Shelley – Scrum coach, Chris Silverthorn – Forwards coach, Andy Evans – Strength and Conditioning coach, James Kent – Performance analyst
Brazil’s squad: 1 Jonatas Paul 2 Daniel Danielewicz (cap) 3 Vitor Ancina 4 Lucas Piero Moraes 5 Luis Vieira 6 Mark Jackson 7 Clebber Dias 8 Nicholas Smith 9 Johannes Beukes Cremer 10 Lucas Duque 11 Lucas Muller 12 Moisés Duque 13 Felipe Sancery 14 Stefano Giantorno 15 Daniel Sancery. Res: 16 Yan Rosetti 17 Wilton Rebolo 18 Lucas Abud 19 Matheus Wolf 20 Joao Luiz da Ros 21 Mateus Tavares 22 Laurent Couhet 23 Guilherme Coghetto
Americas Rugby Championship | 2016 Competition
(Home v Away)
Round 1 – Weekend of Feb. 6 -7, 2016
Canada 33-17 Uruguay
USA 35-35 Argentina
Chile 25-22 Brazil
Round 2 – Weekend of Feb. 13 – 14, 2016
USA 30-22 Canada
Argentina 52-15 Chile
Brazil 29-33 Uruguay
Round 3 – Weekend of Feb. 20 -21, 2016
Canada v Brazil
USA v Chile
Uruguay v Argentina
Round 4 – Weekend of Feb. 27 – 28, 2016
Argentina v Canada
Brazil v USA
Chile v Uruguay
Round 5 – Weekend of March 5 – 6, 2016
Chile v Canada
Uruguay v USA
Brazil v Argentina
Americas Rugby Championship standings:
1. USA (8 points)
2. Argentina XV (8 points)
3. Canada (5 points)
4. Uruguay (5 points)
5. Chile (4 points)
6. Brazil (2 points)
