Yak is Back!

Canada’s senior men’s head coach Mark Anscombe has named a 26-man Canada ‘A’ team that will tour the UK next month. Canada will face off against Greene King IPA Championship club Doncaster (August 20th) as well as Pro 12 side Ulster ((August 26th).

“We’re looking to develop our player depth on this tour,” Anscombe said. “We want to see if the players that played well during the Canadian Rugby Championships can step up and play at a higher level.”

The squad features 11 players who have test caps to their name in Kyle Baillie, Nanyak Dala, Matt Heaton, Phil Mackenzie, Gordon McRorie, Dan Moor, Pat Parfrey, Benoit Piffero, Mozac Samson, Brock Staller and Jordan Wilson-Ross. The rest of the squad is comprised of some of Canada’s finest young talent in Lucas Albornoz, Admir Cejvanovic, Peter Houlihan, Daniel Joyce, Conor Keys, Ryan Kotlewski, Ben LeSage, Kainoa Lloyd, Anthony Luca, Alex Mascott, Cody McClary, Aidan McMullan, Ollie Nott, Robbie Povey and Adrian Wadden. “We want to see how these players work under pressure,” Anscombe said. “Are they capable of going up to the next level and playing international rugby?”

The squad is comprised of players from all four CRC teams — the Ontario Blues, Prairie Wolf Pack, Atlantic Rock and BC Bears — as the tournament acts as the key pathway to Canada’s senior men’s team and for player development. The Blues claimed its fifth MacTier Cup last weekend after edging out the Wolf Pack by one point. Canada’s senior team is coming off of June’s RISEAsOne Summer Series where they defeated Russia but were narrowly beaten by Italy and Japan. Later this year, Canada will travel to the UK again to face Ireland with two further games still to be confirmed.

CW congratulates ALL players but particularly those that have worn the Tricolour in recent times - Nanyak Dala and Mozac Samson.

  A few words from 'The Don'.