Canada on the brink of history
Canada will achieve its highest ever finish in the seven years of the Churchill Cup regardless of the result against Argentina Jaguars at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Sunday.
But the goal is most certainly a victory, which will mark Canada third place finishers, and Bowl winners, in the six team event – North America’s premier XV-a-side rugby tournament.
Canada will play the South Americans on Father’s Day, part of a tripe header day of action in Commerce City.
Playing their fifth game in six weeks a number of regular starters for Canada have made the shift to the replacements bench, offering up opportunities for some of the younger members of senior men’s national rugby team.
In assessing what the Argentinians will bring to the match – Crowley says it will be a similar approach that the Georgians plied against Canada to open the tournament two weeks ago – a 42-10 win.
“The Jaguars are a very physical group up front – and will offer a large challenge to our forwards,” he analyzed.
“Their kicking game is quite tactical and they are always looking to gain territory through kicks to space and our back three. I think we have created an appropriate response to that tactic having Sean Duke, Matt Evans and James Pritchard back there.”
Coach Crowley has replaced his front row from the match against Ireland last week – a loss to Ireland A 30-19. Making his first start and collecting his third cap on Sunday will be Newfoundland’s Frank Walsh of the Vandals RFC club. He will pack down with the Pletch brothers – who mark their first start together as a hooker/prop combination.
Mike Pletch will be in the hooker spot, with his brother Dan next to him at loosehead prop.
Canada also lost the services of second row Mike Burak – so as a result Jebb Sinclair’s seventh Canada appearance will be in the second row, rather than his more familiar back row spot. He slots in with Tyler Hotson who marks his 10th Canada start.
In the back row Stan McKeen is back from long term injury and a season of rugby at Oxford University. Working with him at the open side flanker spot is Nanyak Dala – who makes his fourth straight start of this current campaign.
Aaron Carpenter also holds down his No. 8 position for a fourth straight week and will anchor the back row and wear the Captain’s C for the first time in a Canada jersey.
Ed Fairhurst moves back to the starting role at scrum-half after moving to the replacements bench for a week – marking his 47th Canada appointment.
The ascendancy of Ander Monro continues as the Canadian born Scotsman holds onto the fly-half jersey for a third straight week, with his place kicking and line breaks turning heads during this Denver campaign.
On the wing 21 year old Matt Evans wins his second straight start after causing a stir against Georgia with a pair of tries as a replacement two weeks ago. Evans started at fullback last week in the loss to Ireland A – but will stay on the field – relinquishing the fullback spot back to the very in form James Pritchard. The other wing spot goes to second year man Sean Duke.
“This is a reward for how well Matt has been playing both off the replacements bench and as a starter,” explained Crowley of his decision to keep the youngster in the side. “He really attacks the gaps and works for space out there – so I think it is important that we keep him on the pitch for this match.”
Bryn Keys gets his first start of this Churchill Cup after making an impact off the bench in two performances. He will start at inside centre – with DTH van der Merwe sliding over one spot after a pair of decent outings in the No 12 jersey.
Argentina A beat Canada 17-16 in last year’s Churchill Cup pool match and captain Agustin Creevy, who played that day in Toronto, knows it will be another physical encounter.
“It is going to be a tough game for us as Canada has made a lot of improvements in the last year – especially in the forwards,” said Creevy.
Canada: 15 James Pritchard, 14 Sean Duke, 13 DTH van der Merwe,12 Bryn Keys, 11 Matt Evans,10 Ander Monro , 9 Ed Fairhurst,8 Aaron Carpenter (captain),7 Nanyak Dala6 Stan McKeen, 5 Tyler Hotson, 4 Jebb Sinclair,3 Dan Pletch,2 Mike Pletch, 1 Frank Walsh,
Replacements: 16 Pat Riordan, 17 Doug Wooldridge,18 Stuart Ault, 19 Chauncey O’Toole, 20 Adam Kleeberger,21 Dean Van Camp, 22 Phil Mack,
Argentina Jaguars: 15. Lucas Bernado Barrera Oro, 14. Francisco José Merello,13. Matías Viazzo ,12. Benjamín Urdapilleta,11. Tomás De Vedia, 10. Ignacio Mieres, 9. Martin Landajo, 8. Tomás Leonardi,7. Leonardo Senatore, 6. Alejandro Tomás Campos,5. Carlos José Cáceres, 4. Mariano Sambucetti, 3. Pedro Arocena Ledesma,2. Agustín Creevy (captain),1. Juan Figallo,
Replacements: 16. Mauricio Rául Guidone, 17. Juan Francisco Gomez, 18. Tomás Roan, 19. Agustín Guzman, 20. Francisco Cubelli,21. Horacio Alberto San Martin ,22. Belisario Agulla ,
