Rugby Canada Announces ARC Squad

Coach Crowley has announced his 25 man roster for the upcoming ARC's to be held again at Westhills Arena in Langford, starting October 11th when Canada takes on Argentina at 6:00 p.m.  It is a very interesting mix of players, predominantly coming from the recent CRC  Competition, an espoused pathway to National selection.  There are seven Ontario Blues, eight B.C. Bears, five from the Wolf Pack and three from The Rock.

There are both new names and familiar names, a number of whom have worn the Tricolors in recent seasons. To give a pen picture of some of the squad (alphabetically), we start with Kyle Baillie, a chap who had a season with CW about three years back and when we saw him play with The Rock this summer he appeared to have bulked up and increased his work rate.  He runs as a lock, #8 or flank and has obviously been rewarded for other good games.  Barkwill at hooker came west last winter and has shown some hard headed stuff with Rugby Canada during the Spring series of tests. When he keeps his thinking cap on he is very worthy of his place. Nick Blevins has had a great summer run with The Wolf Pack and is a  deserved selection.  Zac Coughlin is a guy we think highly of after plenty of looks with JBAA last winter and his CRC play with The Rock.  Joe Dolesau from Burnaby has the goods in our books as well.  He is a strong running center who has a knack of scoring tries as a result of his Campo style  "goose step".  We skip some names (see full list of players at end of article) and move to Kyle Gilmour.  Gillie had a good summer with The Wolf Pack and we know from a season with CW three years back that he is tough lad with good coverage for a loosie.  Local, Riley Illnicki, sees his young bro selected, after graduating form UVic and having a trot with Auckland Colts.  He is a useful prop but last season looked like he needed some beefing up.  Kleeberger (now CW) and MacKenzie from the Vikes are deservedly placed.  We are very happy for Callum Morrison who has been named to the squad.  We saw him put in two sterling performances as Skipper of the Bears at Westhills. He is another loosie who won't dissapoint.  Another with whom we are familiar with at The Park is Mike Scholtz.  Scholtzie has returned from a spate of injuries and we wish him well.  He is a hard running center who should compliment Dolesau.  Andrew Tiedeman has returned from Auch and looked good as a test starter in the summer series of Pacific Rim play.  Excellent to see Connor Trainor in this group.  Obviously fit, some might argue for his Sevens selection as being more serviceable for Canada...the brains trust knows best, I guess.  The experienced Sean White and Wilson-Ross from JBAA and FRF, Doug Woolridge who ranged around Windsor last season, round out the group.

RUGBY CANADA SQUAD IN FULL

Kyle Baille, (Castaway Wanderers/The Rock) Charlottetown, PEI
Ray Barkwill, (Niagara Wasps RFC/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON
Nick Blevins, (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
Alistair Clark, (Baystreet RFC/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
Zac Coughlan, (Swilers RFC/The Rock) St. John’s, NL
Joe Dolesau, (Burnaby Lake RC/BC Bears) Burnaby, BC
Jack Fitzpatrick, (Dublin University Football Club) Dublin, Ireland
Aaron Flagg, (Abbotsford RFC/BC Bears) Abbotsford, BC
Kyle Gilmour, (St. Albert Rugby Club/Prairie Wolf Pack) Edmonton, AB
Micha Govorchin, (Burnaby Lake RC/BC Bears) New Westminster, BC
Matt Heaton, (SABRFC/The Rock) Godmanchester, QC
Jake Illnicki, (Williams Lake Rustlers/Auckland Colts) Williams Lake, BC
Adam Kleeberger, (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) White Rock, BC
Jamie Mackenzie, (UVIC Vikes/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
Duncan Maguire, (St. Albert Rugby Club/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
Ryan March, (Abbotsford RFC/BC Bears) Abbotsford, BC
Adam McQueen, (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Canmore, AB
Henry (Hank) McQueen, (Balmy Beach/Ontario Blues) West Vancouver, BC
Callum Morrison, (UBCOC Ravens/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
Mike Scholz, (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues) London, ON
Andrew Tiedemann, (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
Conor Trainor, (UBCOB Ravens/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Sean White, (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
Jordan Wilson-Ross, (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Alliston, ON
Doug Wooldridge, (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON

CW wishes the boys best of luck for the games, injury free and good rugby...go, Canada!