EOYT: Canada vs Russia, 17/11/2012

[LittleGuy]

EOYT: Canada v Russia, 17/11/12

Parc Eirias, Colwyn Bay, Wales (17-11-2012, 18:00 GMT)

Referee: Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Tim Hayes (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
Television Match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
​

This match along with all of the matches at Colwyn Bay will be streamed live on IRB.com for everybody around the world. (http://www.irb.com/live/video.html)

EOYT: Canada v Russia, 17/11/12. Colwyn Bay, Wales.

The 13th and 20th ranked teams meet up in North Wales for their third meeting in recent years. Canada have won both games by solid but not spectacular margins with a 22-6 win in Canada in November of 2009 and a 34-18 victory at the 2011 Churchill Cup in England. Both teams lost last week with Canada losing to Samoa 42-12 and Russia being beaten by the States 40-26. Lineups will be posted when available.

The game will be available on live stream at the IRB website, as well for Canadian viewers TSN will be playing the game tape-delayed at 8 p.m. EST.

Canadian Squad.

Starters

1 Andrew Tiedemann
2 Ryan Hamilton
3 Jason Marshall
4 Jebb Sinclair
5 Tyler Hotson
6 Tyler Ardron
7 Chauncey O'Toole
8 Aaron Carpenter (Captain)
9 Eric Wilson
10 Harry Jones
11 Taylor Paris
12 Nick Blevins
13 Ciaran Hearn
14 Jeff Hassler
15 James Pritchard

Bench

16 Hubert Buydens
17 Ray Barkwill
18 Doug Wooldridge
19 Jon Phelan
20 Phil Mackenzie
21 Nanyak Dala
22 Phil Mack
23 Connor Braid

Russian Squad.

Starters

1 Grigory Tsnobiladze
2 Valery Tsnobiladze
3 Evgeny Pronenko
4 Alexander Voytov (Captain)
5 Kirill Kulemin
6 Andrey Temnov
7 Pavel Butenko
8 Victor Gresev
9 Alexey Shcherban
10 Sergey Sugrobov
11 Vladimir Ostroushko
12 Dmitry Gerasimov
13 Vasily Artemyev
14 Denis Simplikevich
15 Igor Klyuchnikov

Bench

16 Vladislav Korshunov
17 Alexey Volkov
18 Innokentiy Zykov
19 Andrey Garbuzov
20 Ramil Gaysin
21 Gleb Babkin
22 Yuri Vengerov
23 Sergey Trishin

 

[BZHopenside]

If Canada can dominate the set piece like the US did, there is no reason why they shouldn't win handily.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Parc Eirias, Colwyn Bay, Wales (17-11-2012, 18:00 GMT)

Referee: Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Tim Hayes (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
Television Match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
​

This match along with all of the matches at Colwyn Bay will be streamed live on IRB.com for everybody around the world. (http://www.irb.com/live/video.html)

 

[LittleGuy]

Zeq can you merge the thread I created on this a couple of days ago into this one?

 

[Dougydeluxe]

Canada will win, looked good against Samoa, just was not ready for what was brought.

It is also on TSN at 8:30pm on Saturday... only benifit of a NHL lockout

 

[LittleGuy]

Canada will win, looked good against Samoa, just was not ready for what was brought.

It is also on TSN at 8:30pm on Saturday... only benifit of a NHL lockout

I thought it was on at 8 p.m. on TSN the replay. I'll have to double check that though.

I do think Canada will win as well, waiting till the lineups are named to offer my prediction though.

Edit: It is indeed on at 8 p.m. on Saturday on TSN.

Edit Edit: If anyone is interested the Canadian classics team is playing in 10 minutes. Check rugby Canada for the link, their first game was quite thrilling though a heartbreaking loss.

 

[LittleGuy]

The Canadian lineup has been named and edited into the first post of the thread. Not too many surprises, note that Mackenzie is on the bench due to his limited training time this week after being injured. Braid not starting is a bit of a surprise but apparently Crowley wants to see what Jones can do, it is his first cap. It seems from his pre match comments though that Jones will be on a short leash so Braid might come in early if he is underperforming.

The forwards look better this week and are thankfully taking on the weakest scrum in the Top 25 of the IRB, so this shouldn't be the issue it was last week.

Edit: The Russian side has also been named and added to the thread.

 

[poopiepeople]

I thought this was today and was super excited. Damn.

 

[Canucks]

The Canadian lineup has been named and edited into the first post of the thread. Not too many surprises, note that Mackenzie is on the bench due to his limited training time this week after being injured. Braid not starting is a bit of a surprise but apparently Crowley wants to see what Jones can do, it is his first cap. It seems from his pre match comments though that Jones will be on a short leash so Braid might come in early if he is underperforming.

The forwards look better this week and are thankfully taking on the weakest scrum in the Top 25 of the IRB, so this shouldn't be the issue it was last week.

Edit: The Russian side has also been named and added to the thread.

I would also like to point your prediction on Eric Wilson starting at 9.

I think starting Jones is a good choice. He's not big, not a consistent kicker and is not going to consistently break the line. That being said he was very good at organising him team and knew how to win games. His teams (rockridge and capilano) were undefeated for few years when he played for them. Those matches includes top school sides with Australia and England.

He's also very similar to hiriyama in regards to vision. I'm hoping Jones gets more than few starts in future because the trial by fire at number 10 is always the worst.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

I hate that we are starting Jebb Sinclair at second-row yet again! The guy is probably the one of if not the best homegrown Canadian rugby player we have produced in a number of years and has been playing top quality rugby in the backrow for the Stormers and Western Province (two of the best teams in two of the best leagues in the world) and we start him out of position in the second-row. I love Carps but Sinclair is a monster and I would love to see him picking up the ball off the scrum and smashing dudes!

 

[LittleGuy]

I would also like to point your prediction on Eric Wilson starting at 9.

I think starting Jones is a good choice. He's not big, not a consistent kicker and is not going to consistently break the line. That being said he was very good at organising him team and knew how to win games. His teams (rockridge and capilano) were undefeated for few years when he played for them. Those matches includes top school sides with Australia and England.

He's also very similar to hiriyama in regards to vision. I'm hoping Jones gets more than few starts in future because the trial by fire at number 10 is always the worst.

It's a good match to put him in, Russia will be challenging but not an opponent that is overwhelming for a first capped player like Samoa would have been last week, FH looks like it's going to be a little unsettled for us in the next year or two. McCann should put himself into the conversation as having a #10 trained at Clermont is quite an acheivement. Than we have younger prospects like Braid, Jones even Piatek from the Blues has impressed in the CRC. Hirayama and Evans are also possibilities.

I hate that we are starting Jebb Sinclair at second-row yet again! The guy is probably the one of if not the best homegrown Canadian rugby player we have produced in a number of years and has been playing top quality rugby in the backrow for the Stormers and Western Province (two of the best teams in two of the best leagues in the world) and we start him out of position in the second-row. I love Carps but Sinclair is a monster and I would love to see him picking up the ball off the scrum and smashing dudes!

I would also love to see Jebb get in at #8 or even on the flanks, he played at flanker for Stormers and WP off the bench in quite a few games and did well. Again this is where not having Cudmore in the lineup is a huge let down, we could have Jebb in the backrow instead of Ardron and than Cudmore and Hotson could be the lock pairing. Hopefully Cudmore is available for the RWC qualifiers next summer it's going to be a tough two games against the States and we really need our best team out.

 

[Canucks]

Just wanted to say great game by the boys. Still not over but meh.

I also want to thank Jeff Hassler for proving that a Gridiron style running back can be effective in international rugby.



Gave up CIS due to injuries and came over to rugby. After his performance today, I encourage this type of poaching.

Hopefully he gets a pro contract at some point. This guy was on pace to win the player of the year award in Canadian college football but he now plays rugby.

If he gets some excellent coaching, with his running style he could become an amazing player.

 

[CDN_Rugby]

I don't really have many thoughts on this game, but it has to be said that Hassler was fantastic. Aside from the gong show that was the last twenty minutes (way too many dumb penalties and handling errors), I thought it was a good effort overall.

 

[LittleGuy]

I don't really have many thoughts on this game, but it has to be said that Hassler was fantastic. Aside from the gong show that was the last twenty minutes (way too many dumb penalties and handling errors), I thought it was a good effort overall.

I feel a similar way CDN_Rugby, Canada looked good in parts but also seemed to be missing something, it was just a little too sloppy. Just watching the TSN replay since my stream was laggy and there has been a laughably poor decision from TSN to run ads in the middle of the half and just skip 4-5 minutes of the game including a conversion attempt!!!!! Subs seemed to have an opposite effect tonight as they did last week where they picked up the intensity, in this game they seemed to add to the litany of errors being made. The open field defence was outstanding though everyone was making their hits and the physicality was there in a big way.

Hassler is man of the match unquestionably, Pritchard had a good game as well. Boy were Russia absolutely dire though, predictable, pedantic and making basic errors. Discipline from both sides was rather lacking. Also the crowd really lacked the same atmosphere that last Friday's match had where they seemed to be cheering at all the line breaks and big hits. It would be interesting to see if the attendance as down from last week or whether the Wales loss the night before has taken an edge off of the Welsh rugby fan's weekend.

The final was 35-3 for anyone wondering.

Canada:
Tries: Hassler 19c' & 59m' Paris 43c' Blevins 46c'
Conversions: Pritchard 3(4)
Penalties: Pritchard 3(3) Braid 0(1)
Yellow Card: Blevins 80' (High Tackle)

Russia:
Penalty: Klyuchnikov 1(2)

 

[poopiepeople]

Hassler has a set of wheels on him, found him very impressive today. Wilson hopefully will get the start over White against NZM

 

[LittleGuy]

Hassler has a set of wheels on him, found him very impressive today. Wilson hopefully will get the start over White against NZM

Don't worry poopie, White went home already with a thumb injury(lodged up his butt perhaps?), what a difference it was with Wilson in there this week. By the time Mack got on was when Canada took the foot off the gas.

 

[LittleGuy]

Here is a highlight pacakage with interviews afterwords....

 

[Dougydeluxe]

Hassler looked great from the Highlights... perfect combo of dancing wing, and a power wing

 

[Canucks]

Hassler looked great from the Highlights... perfect combo of dancing wing, and a power wing

Sorry to bring this up again but he is something not seen in rugby before (as far as I am aware.)
I'm not trying to make him sound like the next lomu or even make it sound like he's awesome but there has never been a talented runnigback in rugby before. By all indications he was a very talented rb for Saskatchewan and could have won the hoc but had to give up the sport due to consistent injuries.

His running style is unique in rugby (although I expect debate on this.) He's obviously fast which is common but what is not common is that he is a downhill runner. His style depends on quick acceleration, tight cuts, power through the weak points on defenders and then accelerate again. He does all of these very well. You cannot tackle a downhill runner unless you actually wrap them up, he will break an arm tackle.

Because he was a high level rb his balance would be amazing, something that is not a real developmental focus for players in rugby yet.
In areas where some players pull a stupid dance move and lose speed, he takes as much momentum as possible into a simple cut and the accelerates once he feel the tackle breaking.

If he got onto a high level professional team that could teach him how to play wing in 15s, he could become an elite player. No hyperbole.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

Sorry to bring this up again but he is something not seen in rugby before (as far as I am aware.)
I'm not trying to make him sound like the next lomu or even make it sound like he's awesome but there has never been a talented runnigback in rugby before. By all indications he was a very talented rb for Saskatchewan and could have won the hoc but had to give up the sport due to consistent injuries.

His running style is unique in rugby (although I expect debate on this.) He's obviously fast which is common but what is not common is that he is a downhill runner. His style depends on quick acceleration, tight cuts, power through the weak points on defenders and then accelerate again. He does all of these very well. You cannot tackle a downhill runner unless you actually wrap them up, he will break an arm tackle.

Because he was a high level rb his balance would be amazing, something that is not a real developmental focus for players in rugby yet.
In areas where some players pull a stupid dance move and lose speed, he takes as much momentum as possible into a simple cut and the accelerates once he feel the tackle breaking.

If he got onto a high level professional team that could teach him how to play wing in 15s, he could become an elite player. No hyperbole.

Hassler is a stud, i have no doubt he will eventually be playing professionally in Europe. Every time he had the ball against Russia he was a threat and he cut their line like a knife going through butter.

I thought Canada played well; however, they need to shore up all the knock-ons and dropped ball. The Score could of easily gone into the 50's had ball handling not let us down. So glad Shawn White didn't play I thought Wilson and Mack both distributed the ball to the backline far better.