Preview - Canada v Scotland 'A'

Bates shuffles his pack

Scotland 'A' coach Steve Bates has made eight changes for Wednesday's Churchill Cup clash with Canada in Ottawa.

The Scots beat England Saxons 13-7 at the weekend and will book a place in the Edmonton final on June 18 with a victory over the Canucks at Twin Elm Park.

"The win over England confirmed what this team is capable of and we are continuing to develop that positive mentality in our preparation for this game," said Bates.

But Scotland have only had a four-day recovery period and the only survivors in the pack are prop Colin Noon and lock Craig Hamilton.

Noon is joined in the front row by Edinburgh prop Alasdair Dickinson and hooker Andrew Kelly while Andy Hall replaces Mark Rennie at lock.

Bates has opted for a fresh back row, with Borders pair Andy Miller and Scott Gray flanking the Leeds No.8 Jon Dunbar.

In the backs Rory Lamont is rested for Borders winger Nikki Walker, the leading Scottish try-scorer in the Celtic League this season, while Edinburgh's Nick De Luca is paired with Graeme Morrison in the centres.

"It will be a huge test for us because it will ultimately determine whether we go home as Churchill Cup finalists or not," said Bates.

Meanwhile, Canada's line-up for the game features a host of new caps and positional switches.

The Pletch twins, Dan and Mike, team up for the first time starting as the props in a front row that also contains Burnaby Lake hooker Pat Riordan, who wins the position in rotation with Aaron Abrams.

The Pletch brothers have amassed ten Under-19 caps and five U-21 caps for Canada with Dan now having nine senior caps and Mike one, but this is the first time they both will be on the field for Canada in a full international together.

"It is a great occasion for the Pletch family for both the boys to be capped for Canada together," says Canada coach Ric Suggitt.

"Both of them played well when we were in New Zealand with Canada 'A' and they have been progressing steadily, so they deserve the opportunity,"

Parma's Luke Tait, fresh from his team's Heineken Cup qualifying win in Wales on the weekend, pairs with Stade
Bordelais forward Josh Jackson.

Joining the Pletches is their Oakville Crusader teammate Sean-Michael Stephen in the back row. Stephen won two substitute caps in the 2004 Churchill Cup but this is his first start in a Canada jersey.

"Schmacky [Stephen] struggled a bit last year with us in almost the same way Aaron Carpenter did when he was brought up to the senior level, but to his credit, like Carps he went back home and did what forward's coach John Tait told him to do," says Suggitt.

"Schmacky improved his fitness and he was all over the park in the NA4 games. We also like the fact that he has a bit of an edge to his game and is a bit of a pest."

Joining Stephen in a mobile back row are Stan McKeen, fresh from signing with the Cornish Pirates in England, and Aaron Carpenter, who held the No.8 spot all of the 2005 season.

Veteran Victoria scrum-half Ed Fairhurst with 27 caps and Derek Daypuck make-up the half-back pairing.

Daypuck has already won ten caps at fullback, but since the New Zealand tour in April he has been playing fly-half with more and more confidence and authority and now earns his first start for Canada in his new found position.

"Derek has really taken the bull by the horns at fly-half," said Suggitt.

"He's been a traffic cop in attack and I don't think anyone wants to run at him because his tackling has improved immensely. He's very courageous in the tackle and sometime I wonder if he isn't wearing six."

Bayside's Chris Pack wins his first start pairing with captain Ryan Smith in the centres while Meraloma wing Justin Mensah-Coker also earns his first start.

Meanwhile, James Pritchard comes back into the Canadian line-up for the first time in three years, having last played for it in the 2003 World Cup against Tonga. An Australian by birth, his grandfather once lived in Saskatchewan, and Jamie played there a season with the Prairie Fire.

"Jamie's first strength is that he can kick goals and he has been practicing that since he arrived," said Suggitt.

"Besides that Jamie has been a professional player for five or six years and he knows what to do out there, and he will give confidence and support to the younger members of the back-line,."

Edinburgh Gunner and former Canada U-19 player Mike Pyke retains the fullback spot he first played in Canada's last game against Romania when he recorded a perfect four for four, kicking two penalties and two conversions.

"We were really impressed with Scotland and they are playing an adventurous style of rugby and are very tenacious at the breakdown," said Suggitt.

"We're going to have to be pretty quick and pretty alert so as not to fall into the same trap that England fell into.

"Now that they have beaten England they will have the bit between their teeth looking to reach the final.

"They will mix up their team and may do different things as will we so it should be a very interesting game and hopefully we can knock Scotland off and really throw a wrench into this Barclays Churchill Cup."

Canada: 15 Mike Pyke (Edinburgh Gunners, Scotland), 14 Justin Mensah-Coker (Meraloma), 13 Ryan Smith (Montauban, France, captain), 12 Chris Pack (Bayside), 11 James Pritchard (Northampton, England), 10 Derek Daypuck (Castaway-Wanderers), 9 Ed Fairhurst (University of Victoria), 8 Aaron Carpenter (Brantford Harlequins), 7 Stan McKeen (Cornish Pirates, England), 6 Sean-Michael Stephen (Oakville Crusaders), 5 Josh Jackson (Stade Bordelais, France), 4 Luke Tait (Parma, Italy), 3 Mike Pletch (Oakville Crusaders), 2 Pat Riordan (Burnaby Lake), 1 Dan Pletch (Oakville Crusaders).
Replacements: 16 Aaron Abrams (Castaway-Wanderers), 17 Hubert Buydens (Saskatoon Wild Oats), 18 Matt Phinney (Meraloma), 19 David Biddle (Meraloma), 20 Matt Weingart (Castaway-Wanderers), 21 Adam Kleeberger (University of Victoria), 22 David Spicer (University of Victoria).

Scotland 'A': 15 Calum MacRae (Border Reivers), 14 Simon Danielli (Border Reivers), 13 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), 12 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Gunners), 11 Nikki Walker (Border Reivers), 10 Phil Godman (Edinburgh Gunners), 9 Rory Lawson (Edinburgh Gunners, captain), 8 Jon Dunbar (Leeds Tykes), 7 Andy Miller (Border Reivers), 6 Scott Gray (Border Reivers), 5 Craig Hamilton (Glasgow Warriors), 4 Andy Hall (Newport-Gwent Dragons), 3 Colin Noon (Biarritz), 2 Andrew Kelly (Edinburgh Gunners), 1 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Gunners).
Replacements: 16 Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), 17 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Gunners), 18 Mark Rennie (Lyon), 19 Ross Beattie (Northampton Saints), 20 Alasdair Strokosch (Edinburgh Gunners), 21 Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), 22 Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors).

Date: Wednesday, June 7
Kick-off: 18:00 (22:30 GMT)
Venue: Twin Elm Stadium, Ottawa
Referee: Kevin McCaslin (USA)
Touch judges: Gary Wise (New Zealand), Olan Trevor (Ireland)