Canada teach Russia a 'hard lesson'
Canada booked their place in a second successive Churchill Cup final when they cantered to a five-try victory over Russia, winning 34-18 at Esher on Wednesday.
Kieran Crowley’s men followed up their opening day 26-12 victory over Italy A with a workman-like display against the Russians, scoring 19 unanswered points in the second half.
Tries from Justin Mensah-Coker, Connor Trainor, Ander Munro, Chauncey O’Toole and Matt Evans secured the victory and an 11-day rest before they go for glory at Sixways against England Saxons or Tonga.
O’Toole, man of the match for the second time in five days, said: “It feels pretty good to be in the final – that was our goal. It was a tough game and we knew that we would have to weather their storm and it was going to take a full 80 minutes against these guys.”
It was O’Toole who set the tone of the Canadian display when he made a break upfield, the ball was moved wide and James Pritchard flipped the ball back inside for Mensah-Coker to dot down.
Pritchard added the extras and then traded penalties with Yury Kushnarev before Canada slipped up when Igor Kalinovsky pounced on a loose ball and raced away to score.
That brought the scores level at 10-10 before the Bears went 15-10 ahead through Vasily Artemyev, who pounced on a kick through to dot down.
Trainor cancelled that out when two long passes down the line from Sean White and then Munro found the outside centre, who jinked his way out of clutching hands to cross.
But it was Russia who had the last say in the first half with Kushnarev kicking a second penalty for an 18-15 lead.
Canada regrouped but they had to wait 20 minutes to score the try of the evening – a flowing move down the left which included a Mike Scholz one handed pass out of the tackle – for Munro to cross and Pritchard to add the conversion.
The Canadians sealed the victory after 70 minutes when O’Toole intercepted Alexander Voytov’s pass as Canada attacked the blind side and the flank had an easy run to the line.
Evans wrapped up the victory when he took advantage of another loose ball to race away to score behind the posts for Pritchard to convert.
Russia now take on Italy A at Kingsholm on Sunday and Russian boss Kingsley Jones said: “I was very proud of them. They have worked hard in a short space of time. We are working on our strength and conditioning and just imagine how good we can be if we get fitter. Playing at that intensity for 80 minutes is a massive thing.
“It’s a hard lesson for the lads to learn but it was a pleasing night in many ways. Of course we would like to win but we are realistic about where we are as a team.”
The scorers:
For Russia:
Tries: Klyuchnikov, Artemyev
Con: Kushnarev
Pens: Kushnarev 2
For Canada:
Tries: Mensah-Coker, Trainor, Munro, O’Toole, Evans
Cons: Pritchard 3
Pen: Pritchard
The teams:
Russia: 15 I Klyuchnikov, 14 V Artemyev, 13 I Makovetsky, 12 I Galinovsky, 11 V Ostroushko, 10 Y Kushnarev, 9 S Shakirov, 8 A Garbuzov, 7 A Temnov, 6 V Boltenkov, 5 A Voytov, 4 V Boltenkov, 3 I Prishchepenko, 2 V Korshunov (captain), 1 S Popov.
Replacements: 16 V Tsnobiladze, 17 V Grachev, 18 V Gresev, 19 S Trishin, 20 A Travkin, 21 A Panasenko, 22 A Ryabov.
Canada: 15 J Pritchard, 14 M Evans, 13 C Trainor ( 56), 12 M Scholz, 11 J Mensah-Coker, 10 A Munro (captain), 9 S White, 8 A Carpenter, 7 C O’Toole, 6 J Sinclair, 5 J Cudmore, 4 T Hotson, 3 S Franklin, 2 R Hamilton, 1 T Dolezel.
Replacements: 16 P Riordan, 17 A Tiedemann, 18 H Buydens, 19 M Gudgeon, 20 N Dala, 21 E Fairhurst, 22 P Mackenzie.
Referee: N Owens (Wales)
