• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

Canada's Autumn Internationals

Today Coach of Georgian national team announced the squad that will play the tests against Canada and the US our team is almost at full strength. as i mentioned before Mamuka Gorgodze of Montpellier Herault is disqualified. everyone else is healthy and prepared for Canada .. for those who are interested i will name some of the players from the strongest top 14 sides.

David Zirakashvili and Giorgi JimSheladze from clermont.

Constantin Mikautadze and David Kubriashvili from toulon

Goderdzi Shvelidze Giorgi chkaidze and Giorgi Jgenti from Montpellier.

Aqvsenti Giorgadze from Castres...

this is just a small part of the squad most of these guys are forwards... rest of the players play in French lower divisions, Romania, plenty in Gerogia
 
@ rustylock I did catch most of the game live but I missed the opening Canada try because it happened so fast and about 10-15 minutes in the second half when I was having connection issues. I was also hoping to find an archived broadcast to see what I missed and hopefully translate the Spanish a little better this time if I find anything I will let you know and if you could do the same I would appreciate it.

Ciaran Hearn is really proving to be a hidden gem in the Canadian scheme he is capable of playing so many postions in the back I really look forward to the rest of his tour. Ander Monro had a slight muscle pull in the warmup I think he is available this weekend, Matt Evans looks a little more questionable but I'd really like to see him in at least one of the the two remaining games.

@ toko do you have a full list of the 22 Georgian players it looks like they will have some good french based players at the game from the names you have mentioned.
 
Canadian Lineup for Saturday's game against Georgia.

1. Kevin Tkachuk
2. Pat Riordan
3. Jason Marshall
4. Josh Jackson
5. Jebb Sinclair
6. Chauncey O'Toole
7. Adam Kleeberger
8. Aaron Carpenter
9. Sean White
10. Connor Braid
11. James Pritchard
12. Phillip Mackenzie
13. DTH Van De Merwe
14. Justin Mensah-Coker
15. Ciaran Hearn

Replacements
16. Tom Dolozel
17. Andrew Tiedemann
18. Jon Phelan
19. Tyler Hotson
20. Sean Michael Stephen
21. Jamie Mackenzie
22. Nick Blevins

Head Coach. Kieran Crowley

It looks as though Canada has done their best to mitigate the advantage that Georgia has in the scrums and set pieces. Crowley has chosen size in the front five but still Tkachuk and Jackson will have their work cut out for them against the impressive Georgian forwards, and on the replacments bench he has named five players that normally fill in positions in the front eight. It appears as though Monro and Evans are still having injury issues as both are left off the squad, Connor Braid gets the start at fly-half I like him but he is getting his first test start in this game. Once again Canada has a solid back row and Sean White continues to improve and work hard in the scrum half spot. It will be up to the backs to win this game for Canada and here is where they look most impressive, Pritchard moves to the wing (which he has seen action at before) from fullback to allow the versitile Ciaran Hearn into that spot. DTH Van DE Merwe and Phil Mackenzie are a ruthless combination at the centres and Mensah Coker rounds off the other wing position. Pritchard should handle the kicking duties and has been on fire this season both at his club Bedford and against Spain, Ciaran Hearn has a big leg for any long kicks at goal and might fill in if Pritchard either struggles or is hurt.

A special thank you to Georgian Rugby for providing a link to see the game live if anyone wants the link Rugby Canada has it on their website or send me a PM, it is 2:00 pm local time which means an early morning for us on the Eastern timezone of Canada at 5 am, late night 2 am for the west coast.
 
Last edited:
Excellent synopsis Little Guy,

I just don't know enough about the power of the Georgian scrum to be able assess how we will fair in that area. Crowley obviously sees the need to reinforce that area with four of the replacements covering the the tight 5. I have always liked Pritchard at wing. He has blazing speed, and his abilities as a fullback give him a real muti-dimensional approach to the wing position in the mold of a Isael Dagg/Cory Jane. (Did I just compare him to an All Black LOL =) you know what I mean.)

I just hope this isn't to much to soon for Connor Braid. He has played well for both club and province but this is a huge step up for him. We are certainly going to see what he is made pretty quickly.
 
rusty_lock said:
Excellent synopsis Little Guy,

I just don't know enough about the power of the Georgian scrum to be able assess how we will fair in that area. Crowley obviously sees the need to reinforce that area with four of the replacements covering the the tight 5. I have always liked Pritchard at wing. He has blazing speed, and his abilities as a fullback give him a real muti-dimensional approach to the wing position in the mold of a Isael Dagg/Cory Jane. (Did I just compare him to an All Black LOL =) you know what I mean.)

I just hope this isn't to much to soon for Connor Braid. He has played well for both club and province but this is a huge step up for him. We are certainly going to see what he is made pretty quickly.
Click to expand...

The backs did look very good in the last match ... i'm still getting used to who's who ... and it's even harder for me when the commentary was in Spanish :) ... I guess if what I'm hearing is correct (Georgia has the bigger forwards), Canada will be wanting to play the game with width and pace, so hopefully the outside backs should see a lot of ball

... I guess it's a few months away yet, but we will be able to see the likes Pritchard V Dagg/Jane/Sivivatu or maybe Gear :D
 
Shaggy said:
The backs did look very good in the last match ... i'm still getting used to who's who ... and it's even harder for me when the commentary was in Spanish :) ... I guess if what I'm hearing is correct (Georgia has the bigger forwards), Canada will be wanting to play the game with width and pace, so hopefully the outside backs should see a lot of ball

... I guess it's a few months away yet, but we will be able to see the likes Pritchard V Dagg/Jane/Sivivatu or maybe Gear :D
Click to expand...

I'm just hoping that we can keep it under 70 pts in that one
 
CDN_Rugby said:
To dull the pain of losing to the All Blacks in advance, just watch this a 20 times or so. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQCy5gtnyY4
Click to expand...


LOL yeah I remember that one well.

It was the middle of the night hear in BC when that one was on and sitting watching it on my laptop. Mike Pyke dots down and I'm screaming like a bloody mad fool. Woke the wife up thinking I was in sort distress like I had just had an anuerism (sp) or something
 
Georgia defeats Canada 22-15(15-8 at halftime) in a close game in Tblisi, the Georgian pack strength prooving too much for the Canadians scoring several forward powered tries including a penalty try, the game featured several controversial close plays and a late comeback by Canada falls short.

Canada's Scoring

Tries
Jason Marshall
Aaron Carpenter

Conversions
Pritchard 1 for 2

Penalty
Pritchard
 
It was an interesting game ..... I knew that our scrum was stronger but couldn't imagine there would be such difference in power. Although we won I'm very disappointed by our defense we don't usually concede tries like we did today. I think our coach made some strange decisions on substitutions... I fear that the decision of sacking our former coach Tim lane was a wrong one, he had team set up like clockwork. as for Canada I think they need stronger scrum and overall more power in the team. good luck against Portugal, its going to be difficult if you don't improve your game somehow
 
Last edited:
I don't think Canada will have too many problems with Portugal, it shouldn't be a huge win but I think even an average performance by Canada should produce a ten to fifteen point win. I agree with you toko on the forwards, Canada was missing Cudmore but we still need help in the first five especially outside of Tkachuk. If somehow we could combine Georgia's forwards with Canada's backs we'd probably have a pretty competitive team LOL.
 
Canada;s biggest weakness now is something we used to be known for.... that is producing hard-nosed forwards that used to fill up European teams...

Guys like Rod Snow, Jon Thiel, Mike James, Dan Baugh, John Tait, Al Charron... Canada used to have a plethora of International quality forwards it could call upon to play. It seems those days have come to an end and we haven't replaced that stock

image_gallery
_38710675_dan_baugh_1801_300.jpg
Photo2.jpg

sf_dax_charron_big_001.jpg

mike_james_in_pink.jpg


Canadian Rugby, in its attempt to move from Tier 2 to Tier 1 status has gone soft... our backs are far more skilled then they have been in years past but in the process we have forgotten what brought us those early successes. That is the hard nosed in your face play that Canadian rugby has been known for.
 
Little Guy said:
Georgia defeats Canada 22-15(15-8 at halftime) in a close game in Tblisi, the Georgian pack strength prooving too much for the Canadians scoring several forward powered tries including a penalty try, the game featured several controversial close plays and a late comeback by Canada falls short.

Canada's Scoring

Tries
Jason Marshall
Aaron Carpenter

Conversions
Pritchard 1 for 2

Penalty
Pritchard
Click to expand...

Great result for Georgia. Richie dixon's coaching seems to be playing a good hand for them with their forwards

any idea on what the attendance was for the match?
 
@ Canadian Rugger very well said. I'm not sure why the pendulum has swung so far towards us producing quality backs but not matching them up front. Is it our big boys playing gridiron now that the CFL has recovered from the mid 90's near demise and NFL scouts that actually look at Canadian talent now? Is it Rugby Canada and the youth system doing a poor job at producing front five players? Those are just a couple of theories I'm throwing out there. Tkachuk is world class but this will almost certainly be his last World Cup and last couple of seasons, Cudmore has availability and discipline issues, Josh Jackson is ok but sometimes has to play out of position because we are so desperate, after these three it gets pretty thin up front. I don't want us to go back to playing as one commentator put it at the 2007 RWC, "1970's rugby" with no creativity and people nodding off in the stands but Canada can't just keep writing off the set-pieces and the amount of penalty tries we are conceding is becoming a real problem.

@ barbarian attendance for the Goergia game was approximately 25,000 a great crowd in Tblisi, good to see Rugby really taking off there. Unfortunatley for us Canadian fans we haven't had a game here since late last November. There is also the issue of the sheer size of Canada and while I am being sarcastic the game in Portugal next week is almost as easy for me to get to as any Vancouver home game. I can't wait for next August when Canada will be facing the Eagles in Toronto. Hopefully there will be a western game for the those fans before Canada takes off for NZ next September.
 
Last edited:
Canada's Squad for this Saturday versus Portugal
1. Tom Dolezel
2. Pat Riordan
3. Andrew Tiedmann
4. Jebb Sinclair
5. Tyler Hotson
6. Sean Michel Stephen
7. Adam Kleeberger
8. Aaron Carpenter
9. Sean White
10. Ander Monro
11. Justin Mensah-Coker
12. Nick Blevins
13. Phillip Mackenzie
14. Ciaran Hearn
15. James Pritchard

Bench
16. Jason Marshall
17. Dan Pletch
18. Jon Phelan
19. Chauncey O'Toole
20. Connor Braid
21. Jamie Mackenzie
22. Taylor Paris

It looks like the Magners League and French club players have returned home but the core of the RFU championship players are still on the team. Ander Monro finally returns from injury and will look to create oppourtunities for a Canadian team that all week has said this game is about sending a message after last week's narrow defeat to Georgia. As has been the case all tour the front five will have to play their best in order to not give away the set-pieces to a Portuguese team that has a decent scrum. Several other changes have been made including Chauncey O'Toole who goes to the bench and Sean Michel Stephen comes in. Jason Marshall has had a great tour and I expect him to come on the field relatively early in the second half. Even missing Van de Merwe I like the back line, Nick Blevins will have a chance to get some game time amongst some of Canada's best backs. James Pritchard has been on good form from the kicking tee and he should be the kicker, though Monro and to a lesser extent Hearn are options as well. I think Canada are looking to make a statment this game and also to improve on their 21-13 win in Lisbon two years ago(It was a weak Canadian side) I say Canada wins by fifteen to twenty as long as the scrum can hold out.

Portuguese Squad
1. Francsico Fernandes
2. Joao Corriea
3. Cristian Spachuk
4. Rui D'Orey Braco
5. Goncalo Uva
6. Vasco Uva
7. Julien Bardy
8. Tiago Girao
9. Jose Pinto
10. Joseph Gardener
11. Antonio Aguilar
12. Pedro Silva
13. Frederico Oliviera
14. Goncalo Foro
15. Pedro Leal

Bench
16. Bernardo Duarte
17. Joao Junior
18. Eduardo Acosta
19. Laurent Balangue
20. Pedro Cabral
21. Francisco Mira
22. Bernardo Silviera
 
Last edited:
Portugal 20-23 Canada I watched the game and all i can say is .... "just what i expected" narrow and difficult win for Canada.
Romania 39-12 Uruguay
Georgia 22-15 Canada
Portugal 20-23 Canada
Georgia 19-17 USA
I think people keep underestimating ENC sides... Please don't stop doing so in future. With love from ENC :D
 
Final result Canada 23-20(15-14 at half) Portugal. Canada got off to an amazing start leading 12-0 within the first seven minutes through tries by Pritchard and White which made me look like a genious breifly for my prediction LOL. Portugal rose to the challenge though and scored two converted tries of their own before Pritchard hit a penalty for a slim Canadian lead at halftime. Early in the 2nd half Gardener took the lead for the Portuguese again with a penalty but Pritchard responded with another try. The game slowed down with the Portuguese creating penalties at the scrum and soon tied it at 20-20. Canada seemed to be sparked by a punch up between Uva and Kleeberger after the latter spear tackeled a portuguese player both were yellow carded. Pritchard hit a penalt with five minutes left to give Canada a narrow lead but two terrible mistakes by Justin Mensah Coker meant that Canada had to make a goal line stand at the end of the game exciting stuff and Canada barely survived. If anyone has a link to an archived version i'd appreciate it I had some cutouts in the stream and I missed the last Pritchard try I also only caught the first try on the replays since I didn't make my coffee fast enough LOL and one of the Portuguese penalties. I also have a link for last weeks game versus Georgia if anyone missed it or wants to view the game again just give me a personal message for the link.

Canada Scoring

Tries
James Pritchard (2)
Sean White

Conversions
James Pritchard 1 for 3

Penalties
James Pritchard 2 for 3

Portuguese Scoring

Tries

Antonio Aguilar
Goncalo Foro

Conversions
Joseph Gardener 2 for 2

Penalties
Joseph Gardener 2 for 3

Once again Canada fails to put an opponent away, and give the Portuguese huge credit they fought back very hard after what loooked like was going to be a disastrous afternoon for them. Pritchard had a great day he did miss a couple of kicks but the conversions were pretty difficult I felt Sean White also looked good at scrum-half breaking out several times and scoring or creating tries. Gardener looked good for the lobos but did miss a makeable penalty that could have resulted in a draw. The Canadian scrum looks very weak as I have flogged like a dead horse all tour, and penalties were given away too often at the breakdown. Mensah-Coker had a terrible game especially at the end where I nearly smashed my keyboard when he made a brutal decision near the Canadian goalline. Both teams had some discipline issues although Uva's yellow card was sticking up for his player after Kleeberger used a spear tackle the same week the IRB said they were looking to clamp down on them.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

AlRums
World Rankings - Autumn Internationals 2024
Replies
10
Views
413
AlRums
AlRums
AlRums
Autumn Internationals 2024 TV coverage
Replies
8
Views
2K
AlRums
AlRums
Leonormous Boozer
November Internationals: Expectations for your team
2
Replies
37
Views
1K
Saintjay
Saintjay
TRF_Olyy
Autumn Nations Series 2024
Replies
4
Views
868
japitts
japitts
B
Summer internationals 2024 - what is Scotland’s problem?
Replies
12
Views
2K
Don't Skip Leg Day
Don't Skip Leg Day

Latest posts

Top