CAPTAIN CANADA

CW congratulates Hubert Bydens who has been chosen to Captain the NSMT’s Fall Tour. The team opens on Sunday at Worcester when they play a “Championship XV” – a combination from teams that play in the IPA Championship. It will be a good benchmark for that to follow, against Namibia, Samoa and Rumania. Canada has chosen their strongest available combination for the match.

Joining Buydens in the FRF will be Rayzer Barkwill and Andrew Tiedemann, very much a CW “flavor”. Locking the scrum will be Tyler Hotson and Brent Buekeboom, players who play in this league and are hard men. Dala and Gilmour flank the scrum and John Moonlight “tails up”. The half back combination of McRorie and Parfrey have been given a good chance here to show their wares and if they can provide a smooth link for the talented outside men and keep the ball in front of their forwards, their stock will definitely rise. Hearn and Blevins will pair in the centers and hopefully Blevins can move into form with his familiarity with Ciaran. The back three are experienced with a measure of good pace – Trainor, Duke and Pritch. On the pines; Hamilton, Woolridge, Ilnicki, Wilson-Ross, Pearson, White, Braid and Phelan.

Kickoff is listed for 7:15 a.m. PST. One might be able to pick it up on a SKY TV feed or Rugby Canada Twitter feed. Best of luck to the boys.

   CDI PREMIERSHIP LEAGUE  Tomorrow sees CW Prems on the road to Burnaby. The team should be somewhat buoyed by their performance against Capilanos last weekend, although Burnaby is always tough at home and appear to be back on track after their victory over James Bay last weekend. CW will rely heavily on a mobile backrow of Oliver, Ilnicki and Panga. The three quarters have plenty of pace to cause the hosts headaches. Go, you Tricolors.

U.S. Vs N.Z. In spite of a “sellout” – 62,000 for tomorrow’s game at Soldier Field, the Chicago Tribune has not featured any stories about the All Blacks and tomorrow’s test this week. Hats off to Rugby U.S.A. who presented a “full on” week of p.r. and events in a concerted effort to put rugby front and center. Regardless of the Hawks, Bulls and Bears, this can’t help but be a very positive step forward for the game in North America. The All Blacks have selected a strong side, which pays tribute to the opposition. It will be most interesting to monitor the return of Sonny Bill Williams to a Blacks’ jersey. The match will be televised by NBC at 12:30 p.m., Saturday. (Ch. #18).

CANADA SPORTS HALL OF FAME  You can catch the induction of Gareth Rees and his Canadian cohorts into the National Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on TSN (Ch. #23). For the rugby enthusiast and CW fan, this is a “should not miss” event. ‘onya, Gareth.