Veteran Cudmore leads Canada in June Tests
Thirty-five players recently completed a week-long training camp at Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island before a final touring squad was chosen.
The squad, which will battle Japan, Russia and Italy in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto respectively, features a wealth of experience and a wave of Canada’s promising youth.
"The boys have come together really well," Canada coach Mark Anscombe stated.
"We’ve worked them hard but they’ve put a lot into it and the attitude has been outstanding," he added.
Led by 37-year-old Gudmor, the squad features 12 members from Canada’s 2015 World Cup campaign in Ray Barkwill, Nick Blevins, Hubert Buydens, Aaron Carpenter, Matt Evans, Jake Ilnicki, Jamie Mackenzie, Gordon McRorie, Pat Parfrey, Evan Olmstead, Djustice-Sears Duru and Cudmore.
Furthermore, after impressive performances in the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship, Kyle Baillie, Paul Ciulini, Alistair Clark, Andrew Ferguson, Eric Howard, Dan Moor, Cam Pierce, Lucas Rumball, Mozac Samson and Brock Staller all keep their place in Canada’s setup.
Anscombe also included three debutants in the team Matt Heaton, Calgary’s Ben LeSage and Matt Tierney.
While Taylor Paris, Tom Dolezel and Jordan Wilson-Ross all return to round out the rest of the squad.
"We’ve been trying to find out about everyone the last few days and now we know what we’re faced with. We can now start moving forward and developing the group as a unit," the coach said.
With three exciting test matches against top competition taking place in front of home fans across the country, Canada will look to June as they begin the qualification process towards booking their spot at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Cananda will play against tenth ranked Japan on June 11 and then will head to Alberta to face 19th ranked Russia at the Calgary Rugby Park on June 18.
The team will end the series off with a game against Italy on June 26.
"It’s always exciting to get to the first game," Anscombe said.
"We’ve had a few weeks of preparation and have started developing some things and now the next level of excitement is getting to that first game and we’re looking forward to it.
"The challenge is there in front of us to play well in front of a home crowd," he added.
Canada Squad: Kyle Baillie, Ray Barkwill, Nick Blevins, Hubert Buydens, Aaron Carpenter, Paul Ciulini, Alistair Clark, Jamie Cudmore, Tom Dolezel, Matt Evans, Andrew Ferguson, Matt Heaton, Eric Howard, Jake Ilnicki, Ben LeSage, Jamie Mackenzie, Gordon McRorie, Dan Moor, Evan Olmstead, Pat Parfrey, Taylor Paris, Cam Pierce, Lucas Rumball, Mozac Samson, Djustice Sears-Duru, Brock Staller, Matt Tierney, Jordan Wilson-Ross.
Rugbycanada.ca
Photo credit: Ian Muir
