Canada vs. U.S.A. RWCQ 2nd leg, 24/08/13

[LittleGuy]

Canada vs. U.S.A. RWCQ 2nd leg, 24/08/13 @ BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 4:00 p.m. EDT(1:00 p.m. PDT)

Referee J.P. Doyle (England)

TV Coverage: Canada, TSN2 (Live). U.S.A., Universal Sports(Live)

14th ranked Canada takes an 18 point lead(27-9) into the 2nd leg of the total points series between it and the 18th ranked United States for qualification as the America's #1 spot in the next RWC. The Eagles will look to rebound after six straight losses in 2013 and despite some heroic defence nead to get their attack going. Both teams have lost a couple of players from the first leg to injury.

Canada

Starters

1- Andrew Tiedemann, (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
2- Ray Barkwill, (Niagara Wasps RFC/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON
3- Jason Marshall, (Atlantique Stade Rochelais/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
4- Jebb Sinclair, (London Irish) Fredericton, NB
5- Tyler Hotson, (London Scottish) Vancouver, BC
6- Tyler Ardron, (Ospreys/Ontario Blues) Lakefield, ON
7- John Moonlight, (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Pickering, ON
8- Aaron Carpenter, Captain, (Cornish Pirates) Brantford, ON
9- Phil Mack, (Uvic Vikes, BC Bears) Victoria, BC
10- Harry Jones, (Capilano RFC/BC Bears) West Vancouver, BC
11- DTH Van Der Merwe, (Glasgow Warriors) Regina, SK
12- Nick Blevins, (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
13- Ciaran Hearn, (Castaway Wanderers/Atlantic Rock) Conception Bay, NL
14- Matt Evans, (Cornish Pirates) Maple Bay, BC
15- James Pritchard, (Bedford Blues) Parkes, NSW, Australia

Bench

16- Tom Dolezel, (London St. George's/Ontario Blues) London, ON
17- Doug Wooldridge, (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON
18- Aaron Flagg, (Abbotsford RFC/ BC Bears) Abbotsford, BC
19- Jon Phelan, (Lille Metropole Rugby/Atlantic Rock) Montreal, QC
20- Nanyak Dala, (Castaway Wanderers RFC/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saskatoon, SK
21- Sean White, (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
22- Nathan Hirayama, (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Richmond, BC
23- Phil Mackenzie, (Sale Sharks) Oakville, ON


U.S.A.

Starters

1. Shawn Pittman
2. Chris Biller
3. Eric Fry
4. Louis Stanfill
5. Brian Doyle
6. Scott LaValla
7. Peter Dahl
8. Todd Clever (C)
9. Robbie Shaw
10. Toby L'Estrange
11. Luke Hume
12. Andrew Suniula
13. Chris Wyles
14. Takudzwa Ngwenya
15. Blaine Scully

Reserves

16. Zachary Fenoglio
17. ***i Lamositele
18. Phil Thiel
19. Cameron Dolan
20. Derek Asbun
21. Mike Petri
22. Folau Niua
23. Roland Suniula

 

[canadafan]

Any info on how ticket sales are going?

 

[LittleGuy]

Any info on how ticket sales are going?

Not too sure, I'm going now apparently....my Mom asked me if I wanted anything for my birthday...so I said tickets to the Moari game since I might not be avalable on the 24th....so she asks if I care where I sit at BMO and I respond with I don't...so later she goes back on ticketmaster and orders the wrong game LMFAO. Oh well, the start dates for Harvest are looking much later anyway.

I think they had an OK start with sales but I'm not expecting anything like the Canada vs. Ireland game. A win(or close game) in the 1st leg would probably help as would a decent day of weather. My guess is they'll get around 12,000-13,000....

 

[canadafan]

I would be happy with over 13,000 tickets sold, their goal should be to get around 15,000 though. have to think that they will sell out the Maori game though.

 

[LittleGuy]

I would be happy with over 13,000 tickets sold, their goal should be to get around 15,000 though. have to think that they will sell out the Maori game though.

I don't expect that great a crowd for that game, prices are higher than I would have expected for it. I don't think it's a hugely sellable opponent either, non-test, racially selected side with a fairly small expat community(BC would have been much better for that game) and judging from their game against Canada last November(and the rest of their tour) no where near the side they were 10-15 years ago.. Right in the middle of the gridiron season 1:00 p.m. EDT on a Sunday in November(who scheduled that time LOL)!!! And the game is live on TSN a station thats basic cable...my guess is more around 7-8,000 for that game.

 

[canadafan]

I don't expect that great a crowd for that game, prices are higher than I would have expected for it. I don't think it's a hugely sellable opponent either, non-test, racially selected side with a fairly small expat community(BC would have been much better for that game). Right in the middle of the gridiron season 1:00 p.m. EDT on a Sunday in November!!! And the game is live on TSN a station thats basic cable...my guess is more around 7-8,000 for that game.

Damn, that would be a disaster IMO, hopefully you are off the mark there.

 

[LittleGuy]

Damn, that would be a disaster IMO, hopefully you are off the mark there.

I could be way off, but I don't really see where the fans will come from. Ticket prices are high(15 dollars higher for similar seats I have vs. U.S.A. and about the same as Ireland). There are very few NZ expats in Ontario especially Moari. The game is entirely meaningless since even IRB ranking points aren't on the line, it's not in the offfical IRB test window either so there is a risk that some good players will be unavailble. It's at a time when there are tons of other sports going on, with Gridiron literally at the exact same time. The game is on basic cable which will probably result in a few die hards watching it on TV(especially when Southern Ontario November's are known to be wet and cool.)

I don't think the opponent is that great ether, we got over 20,000 for Ireland, on a beautiful evening with a 6N opponent and probably around 20-25% supporting Ireland(or attempting to punch Canadian fans in a total stupor), Italy was ditto for the conditions and being 6N but had way less travelling/local support, and is probably a slightly less appealing side for most fans and we got around 12,500. The United States in August 2011 was a big rival, tickets were cheap and it was the first home test since November 2009(in all of Canada) and first in Ontario since June 2009, it was hot as hell, but the RWC was around the corner and we only managed to get a little over 10,000.

For this year, the other tests were around 4,500 for Fiji, a good turnout considering it was midweek and the facility is both small and a ways outside of Ottawa, though we hadn't played in Ottawa in some time, and it was a gorgeous evening there. The Edmonton game vs. U.S.A. was only 3,500 but those were horrendous conditions I'll grant and the facility is fairly low end. The Kingston game was a bit of a mess in large part due to the Stadium repairs being moved up, it was probably the most dissapointing crowd at only around 3,000 Tonga only had about 16 supporters at the game as well.

There will also have been four tests in Ontario already this year(Plus two well attended games the year before) saturating the market a little bit. If they match the Italy game I would be VERY pleased, and I really don't think 7-8,000 would be that bad.

 

[canadafan]

Apparently Carpenter is throwing the 'first pitch' tonight in the Blue Jays game, hopefully he doesn't screw that up.

 

[LittleGuy]

Apparently Carpenter is throwing the 'first pitch' tonight in the Blue Jays game, hopefully he doesn't screw that up.

Maybe he can start for them, can't be any worse than who they have.

 

[canadafan]

LG

Originally they wanted the Maori match to be in Vancouver but B.C. Place was vetoed as a venue. Agree that 3 matches at BMO in one year was one too many, I always thought that the RWCQ would be the one with the poorest attendance. Hopefully the gimmick of the Maori 'All Blacks' will motivate people to come watch it.

 

[LittleGuy]

LG

Originally they wanted the Maori match to be in Vancouver but B.C. Place was vetoed as a venue. Agree that 3 matches at BMO in one year was one too many, I always thought that the RWCQ would be the one with the poorest attendance. Hopefully the gimmick of the Maori 'All Blacks' will motivate people to come watch it.

Yeah I read that as well, the IRB still isn't sanctioning turf for capped internationals, and the Moari didn't want to play on it.

Heard through the grapevine they are going heavy on corporate sales/giveaways for the Moari game that might boost the attendance....I think they did that for Ireland as well.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

Yeah I read that as well, the IRB still isn't sanctioning turf for capped internationals, and the Moari didn't want to play on it.

Heard through the grapevine they are going heavy on corporate sales/giveaways for the Moari game that might boost the attendance....I think they did that for Ireland as well.

I would imagine that they will indeed go heavy with corporate sales. Ireland game had a lot of corporate giveaways and many fans in the stadium had gotten tickets through work.

 

[LittleGuy]

I would imagine that they will indeed go heavy with corporate sales. Ireland game had a lot of corporate giveaways and many fans in the stadium had gotten tickets through work.

Yeah I would say 20-25% of the crowd I talked to knew either little(probably about half of that group) to nothing about rugby, while it made the stadium full, it was actually less fun of an atmosphere than versus Italy the year before.

 

[usausa]

So I was in my garage, and the TV was on. I was watching the Canada-USA match. 10 minutes in it was 22-0 USA...60 mins in it was 42-0 USA. Suddenly I awoke, and realized that this match (this second leg) was just a dream during my mid-afternoon nap today. If the US manages to find way to even win the next leg, I will be thoroughly impressed. But I thought I'd share my random dream about the US and the second leg lol.

 

[canadafan]

Hamilton is out injured again, Flagg brought in. Guess that means Carpenter is the back up hooker now.

http://www.rugbycanada.ca/leagues/newsletter.cfm?clientID=3817&leagueID=0&page=72091

 

[LittleGuy]

Hamilton is out injured again, Flagg brought in. Guess that means Carpenter is the back up hooker now.

http://www.rugbycanada.ca/leagues/newsletter.cfm?clientID=3817&leagueID=0&page=72091

You've got to be kidding me!!! When does Hamilton not get hurt LOL. Interesting call on bringing in Flagg I would have thought Piffero or Govorchkin as Hooker would have been more useful. Barkwill has to start as well.

 

[canadafan]

Rugby Canada should just start releasing press releases when Hamilton makes it through a game uninjured, that guy is seriously brittle. We do need to start looking at a replacement for him during the November tour. Thank god we have an 18 point buffer going into the second match.

 

[LittleGuy]

Rugby Canada should just start releasing press releases when Hamilton makes it through a game uninjured, that guy is seriously brittle. We do need to start looking at a replacement for him during the November tour. Thank god we have an 18 point buffer going into the second match.

Yeah I'm surpised and a little concerned they didn't bring up a specialist. Barkwill will do fine at #2 though.

 

[CDN_Rugby]

Rugby Canada should just start releasing press releases when Hamilton makes it through a game uninjured, that guy is seriously brittle. We do need to start looking at a replacement for him during the November tour. Thank god we have an 18 point buffer going into the second match.

Come Autumn, I think we'll see Carpenter at hooker full time. Not only does this article say that Carpenter will be competing for the #2 jersey (http://www.cornish-pirates.com/13-14_player_profiles/aaron_carpenter.html), but another article that I can't seem to find said that he was switching to hooker as a result of pressure from Canadian management.

Given our depth in the backrow right now, I think this move is for the best.

 

[Jaguares]

Canada have a new shirt?