10,272.....
Well that was not a great game HAHAHA, at least it was tense and we saw some tries I suppose. Lot's of knock on's, poor lineout(though Barkwill seemed to get his **** together in the 2nd half). Pritchard had his best game from open play for a long time and his worst day with the boot in a long time. Entire crowd thought we had lost when Wyles lined up for that last shot at goal. Funniest part of the match was a part of play where the ball had been blown (due to Dala's yellow card) dead but half the teams kept playing, Barkwill fly hacked ahead and ended up smashing Zeee in a tackle to the delight of the crowd only to find out it "didn't count"... gratutitous booing of the ref ensued.
Canada seemed to struggle to get into this game and build any kind of momentum, great breaks were spoiled by knock on's Mack did not have a good game, I actually thought White was much better when he came on. Luckily a few guys really did show up to play Hearn in particular, DTH looked dangerous but is wasted at #11. Surprised Mackenzie only got on for 5-6 minutes and that because Blevins took a harsh knock.
On a personal note got photos of me standing beside the Webb Ellis trophy, and the crowd were really passionate and in great force especially for what was a farily dour match(especially considering the conditions which were close to perfect!!!). Think our guys have a sort of BMO field nervousness, they need to settle down for games at the venue. Thank goodness we won which will mean the TV viewers left somewhat satisfied and so did the home crowd.
1. Tiedemann (5) Was OK, really hasn't used these games to raise his stock much though, Buydens is missed here.
2. Barkwill (5) First half was dreadful, second half was MUCH better, I have an odd feeling him and Phelan didn't have the calls down right and the last minute line up changes were the reason.
3. Marshall (7) Good try and kept his discipline in check best game of our forwards I would say.
4. Phelan (5) Didn't really add a whole lot, wasn't supposed to start so can't be too harsh on him.
5. Hotson (6) Sometimes it's not too bad when you aren't mentioned a lot, means you didn't do anything horrible, that was Hotson today.
6. Sinclair (6) Didn't have a huge impact, put in some hard minutes.
7. Moonlight (6) Good in defence
8. Carpenter (6) Not a spectacular day for our loose forwards, did OK, made some odd decisions to go to the corner in the 2nd half...was Pritchard having THAT bad a day from the tee?
9. Mack (5) Is it possible Mack has stolen White's inconsistency? Seemed to be frenetic and tried too hard. Made some critical errors.
10. Jones (6) Decent game, workmanlike
11. DTH (7) Sorely wasted here, looked dangerous had a break which should have led to a try had Mack not knocked on.
12. Blevins (5) Ditto canadafan's thoughts, DTH should have been here.
13. Hearn (8) Probably a worthy MOTM, but says something about the game that the MOTM, just eeks out a 8/10. Defended and created well.
14. Evans (5) - Somewhat anonymous, couldn't Mackenzie have come on earlier?
15 Pritchard (6) - Good from the loose play, poor day with the boot, both conversions were difficult, but that penalty off the post he really should have had.
16. Dolozel (7) - Best game for Canada he's had.
17. Wooldridge - NA
18. Duke - NA
19. Flagg - NA
20 Dala (6) - Added the spark but took a card, but like canadafan said he was "johnny on the spot" for what was really a team card
21 White (6) - Was more effective than Mack, was more settled and composed.
22. Hirayama (5) - Didn't add anything, Didn't subtract anything.
23. Mackenzie (6) - Came on late, could have been an NA
Scoreline.
Canada 13-11(8-8) United States
Canada
Tries: Pritchard, Marshall
Conversions: Pritchard 0(2)
Penalty: Pritchard 1(2)
Yellow Card: Dala
United States
Try: Ngenwya
Conversion: Wyles 0(1)
Penalties: Wyles 2(4)
