Canada change two
Canada have made two changes to the line-up for their Pool A, World Cup opener against Tonga in Whangarei on Wednesday.
Ryan Smith starts at inside centre having come off the bench in both warm-up matches against the USA Eagles, whilst Ed Fairhurst is back at scrumhalf after missing the final warm-up fixture because of work commitments.
Ciaran Hearn and Adam Kleeberger are retained at right wing and blindside flank, respectively, after coming on as replacements in the first of these warm-up matches.
There are four survivors from Canada’s last match against Tonga, a 24-7 victory in their final pool match of the 2003 World Cup.
Jamie Cudmore is again in the starting line-up, this time as a second row, while Fairhurst, Smith and James Pritchard are now in the starting XV having all come on as replacements in 2003.
Canada: 15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 DTH Van Der Merwe, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Phil Mackenzie, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O’Toole, 6 Adam Kleeberger, 5 Jamie Cudmore, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Pat Riordan (captain), 1 Hubert Buydens
Replacements: 16 Ryan Hamilton, 17 Scott Franklin, 18 Tyler Hotson, 19 Nanyak Dala, 20 Conor Trainor, 21 Sean White, 22 Nathan Hirayama.
Date: Wednesday, September 14
Venue: Northland Events Centre, Whangarei
Kick-off: 17.00 (05.00 GMT)
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Steve Walsh (Australia), Stuart Terheege (England)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
