[EOYT] Portugal vs. Canada 23/11/13

[LittleGuy]

Portugal vs. Canada. 23/11/13 15:00 WET (10:00 A.M. EST, 7:00 A.M. PST) Estádio Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)

Broadcast: IRB stream, also on TSN.ca stream. Portuguese Television is carrying the game for the home side as well.

Canada look to salvage something of their November tour when they take on a plucky Portuguese side coming off a huge win over Brazil. Canada should be favoured but with several key players out, and Ardron and Hassler returning to Ospreys anything can happen. The teams have played three tests (and an exhibition match) with Canada victourious in all games though the results in Portugal have been quite close.

Previous results:

2010: Portugal 20-23 Canada
2008: Portugal 13-21 Canada
2007: Canada 42-12 Portugal
2007: Canada XV 34-18 Portugal

Lineups will be added when available.

Canada

1- Hubert Buydens, (Saskatoon Wild Oats/Manawatu Turbos) Saskatoon, SK - Captain
2- Ray Barkwill, (Niagara Wasps RFC/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON
3- Andrew Tiedemann, (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
4- Jon Phelan, (Lille Métropole Rugby/Atlantic Rock) Montreal, QC
5- Tyler Hotson, (London Scottish) Vancouver, BC
6- John Moonlight, (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Pickering, ON
7- Nanyak Dala, (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saskatoon, SK
8- Adam Kleeberger, (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) White Rock, BC
9- Phil Mack, (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
10- Harry Jones, (Capilano RFC/BC Bears) West Vancouver, BC
11- Taylor Paris, (Agen) Barrie, ON
12- Nick Blevins, (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
13- Ciaran Hearn, (Castaway Wanderers/Atlantic Rock) Conception Bay, NL
14- Conor Trainor, (UBCOB Ravens/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
15- James Pritchard, (Bedford Blues) Parkes, NSW, Australia

Bench

16- Benoit Piffero, (Burnaby Lake RFC/Blagnac Sporting Club) Montreal, QC
17- Djustice Sears-Duru, (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
18- Jake Ilnicki, (Williams Lake Rustlers/Auckland Colts) Williams Lake, BC
19- Brett Beukeboom, (Plymouth Albion RFC) Lindsay, ON
20- Kyle Gilmour, (St. Albert Rugby Club/Prairie Wolf Pack) Edmonton, AB
21- Jamie Mackenzie, (UVIC Vikes/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
22- Pat Parfrey, (Swilers RFC/Atlantic Rock) St. John's, NL
23- Connor Braid, (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC



Portugal

1. Bruno Medeiras
2. Joao Correia - Captain
3. Jorge Segurado
4. Rafael Simoes
5. Goncalo Uva
6. Fernado Almeida
7. Antonio Duarte
8. Vasco Uva
9. Francisco Magalhaes
10. Francisco Almeida
11. Frederico Oliviera
12. Miguel Leal
13. Pedro Bettencourt
14. Goncalo Foro
15. Pedro Leal

Bench

16. Joao Almeida
17. Bruno Rocha
18. Francisco Tavares
19. Luis Portela
20. Eric dos Santos
21. Nuno Penha e Costa
22. Francisco Appelton
23. Aderito Esteves

 

[Big Ewis]

hey LittleGuy, sorry to post this here but do you think we should do an Italy Argentina thread ??...............mmmnnaaaah !
Though about doing it but I mean srsly nobody's going to post there. The Argies haven't been very active lately on the forum...

Canada should get this fairly easily. Say, your sentiment on Canada this November ? I'm sure you must be disappointed, looking at the results.
I don't mean to add insult to injury, but it seems the US have played quite better this Autumn than their Northern cousins. Is this something of concern for the future ?

 

[LittleGuy]

hey LittleGuy, sorry to post this here but do you think we should do an Italy Argentina thread ??...............mmmnnaaaah !
Though about doing it but I mean srsly nobody's going to post there. The Argies haven't been very active lately on the forum...

Canada should get this fairly easily. Say, your sentiment on Canada this November ? I'm sure you must be disappointed, looking at the results.
I don't mean to add insult to injury, but it seems the US have played quite better this Autumn than their Northern cousins. Is this something of concern for the future ?

Getting on to this one right now.

 

[LittleGuy]

Canadian lineup has been named, a decent side considering the almost comically high numbers of unavailable players. Paris is back in the side and Pritchard is rightfully starting. Don't really like having Tieddemann and Blevins in there but options are limited. I love the choice of captain though.

Here's the list of unavailables(if Rugby Canada hasn't forgotten anyone which they might have).

Tyler Ardron, (Ospreys/Ontario Blues) Lakefield, ON
Aaron Carpenter, (Cornish Pirates) Brantford, ON
Jamie Cudmore, (ASM Clermont Auvergne) Squamish, BC
Tom Dolezel, (London St. George's/Ontario Blues) London, ON
Sean Duke, (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Matt Evans, (Cornish Pirates) Maple Bay, BC
Jeff Hassler, (Ospreys/Prairie Wolf Pack) Okotoks, AB
Nathan Hirayama, (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Richmond, BC
Phil Mackenzie, (Sale Sharks) Oakville, ON
Jason Marshall, (Atlantique Stade Rochelais/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Jebb Sinclair, (London Irish RFC) Fredericton, NB
Liam Underwood, (Queens University/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON
DTH Van Der Merwe, (Glasgow Warriors) Regina, SK
Doug Wooldridge, (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

Canadian lineup has been named, a decent side considering the almost comically high numbers of unavailable players. Paris is back in the side and Pritchard is rightfully starting. Don't really like having Tieddemann and Blevins in there but options are limited. I love the choice of captain though.

Here's the list of unavailables(if Rugby Canada hasn't forgotten anyone which they might have).

Tyler Ardron, (Ospreys/Ontario Blues) Lakefield, ON
Aaron Carpenter, (Cornish Pirates) Brantford, ON
Jamie Cudmore, (ASM Clermont Auvergne) Squamish, BC
Tom Dolezel, (London St. George's/Ontario Blues) London, ON
Sean Duke, (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Matt Evans, (Cornish Pirates) Maple Bay, BC
Jeff Hassler, (Ospreys/Prairie Wolf Pack) Okotoks, AB
Nathan Hirayama, (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Richmond, BC
Phil Mackenzie, (Sale Sharks) Oakville, ON
Jason Marshall, (Atlantique Stade Rochelais/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Jebb Sinclair, (London Irish RFC) Fredericton, NB
Liam Underwood, (Queens University/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON
DTH Van Der Merwe, (Glasgow Warriors) Regina, SK
Doug Wooldridge, (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON

damm

 

[LittleGuy]

You can add Ryan Hamilton to that as well he's out and they forgot to add him, I can actually make a pretty damn strong squad of decent Canadian players who are absent from this game.

My Not appearing in this test XXIII

1. Wooldridge
2. Hamilton
3. Marshall
4. Sinclair
5. Cudmore
6. Ardron
7. O'Toole
8. Carpenter
9. White
10. Underwood
11. Duke
12. Mackenzie
13. Van De Merwe
14. Hassler
15. Evans

16. Pearson
17. Dolezel
18. March
19. McQueen
20. Michael Stephen
21. Wilson
22. Hirayama
23. O 'Leary (Shame we didn't cap him)

 

[CDN_Rugby]

You can add Ryan Hamilton to that as well he's out and they forgot to add him, I can actually make a pretty damn strong squad of decent Canadian players who are absent from this game.

My Not appearing in this test XXII

1. Wooldridge
2. Hamilton
3. Marshall
4. Sinclair
5. Cudmore
6. Ardron
7. O'Toole
8. Carpenter
9. White
10. Underwood
11. Duke
12. Mackenzie
13. Van De Merwe
14. Hassler
15. Evans

16. Pearson
17. Dolezel
18. March
19. McQueen
20. Michael Stephen
21. Wilson
22. Hirayama
23. O 'Leary (Shame we didn't cap him)

That squad looks better than the one playing Portugal!

 

[LittleGuy]

That squad looks better than the one playing Portugal!

Yeah I might take the SH's from the Portugal lineup, the Bench and Hookers are kind of a wash, with maybe Pritch's goal kicking an advantage in the Portugal side vs. the "Not Appearing in this test XXIII" which is stronger in virtually every other position.

 

[psychic duck]

DTH vdM was playing for Glasgow this weekend (along with Matawalu of Fiji). Quite a few national teams are losing players this weekend. Even a Tier 1 side Argentina have starters Albacete, Bosch and Fernandez playing with clubs instead. Romania and Georgia have both lost a player as well. It's unfortunate that there is no choice, but Canada may well have experimented a bit against Portugal anyway I guess.

 

[LittleGuy]

Much better from Canada today, incredible first half for Pritchard, about the only thing that went wrong was a conversion missing off the post by inches, he has two tries and 20 points alone(Why on earth was he left off the side earlier in the tour?).

Still a few things I'd like to see improve in 2nd half, some of the support line running was odd, and some unforced knock ons, Blevins has been guilty here along with Paris. Os Lobos seem to be technically sound but only really threatened us a couple of times and mainly due to our own errors.

I really like this referee, on almost every replay I see that his calls were right and he's clearly stating why he's called penalties and hasn't rushed to his pocket for a match spoiling card.

Edit: 25-3 for Canada for those wondering.

 

[Toko_11]

Georgian commentators said during Geo vs Can game that Pritchard got injured during the final practice before that game

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

Much better from Canada today, incredible first half for Pritchard, about the only thing that went wrong was a conversion missing off the post by inches, he has two tries and 20 points alone(Why on earth was he left off the side earlier in the tour?).

Still a few things I'd like to see improve in 2nd half, some of the support line running was odd, and some unforced knock ons, Blevins has been guilty here along with Paris. Os Lobos seem to be technically sound but only really threatened us a couple of times and mainly due to our own errors.

I really like this referee, on almost every replay I see that his calls were right and he's clearly stating why he's called penalties and hasn't rushed to his pocket for a match spoiling card.

Edit: 25-3 for Canada for those wondering.

42-3 Canada now with 20 min still to play... utter rout this one is.

 

[LittleGuy]

Yeah much better from Canada today, even let off the gas a little in the final ten. Portugal did get a nicely worked try which at least rewarded the home fans who braved a damp day in Lisbon to come on down but the rest of the match was pretty much one way traffic. Frankly this was exactly what Canada needed to close off the tour and salvage something. MOTM I would say was Pritch, Hearn had a good game. Paris had his usual moments of brilliance combined with a few odd decisions.

Forwards pretty much manhandled the Os Lobos counterparts, Buydens, Barwkill were strong as was Hotson.

Scoreline:

Portugal 8-52(3-25 HT) Canada

Canada

Tries: Hearn 2, Pritchard 2, Blevins, Paris, Braid
Conversions: Pritchard 4(7)
Penalties: Pritchard 3(3)


Portugal

Try: Bettencourt
Conversion: Leal? 0(1)
Penalty: Leal 1(1)

 

[Big Ewis]

8-52 Canada, and 7 tries to 1. Seems like Canada have gone All-Blacks on them Portugueseses. A huge step back from their past two results against the Canadians.

LittleGuy, you never answered my question about Canada's month of November and current form, I took it it irritated you maybe...Happy with Canada, any remarks you could throw out there, haven't seen much besides a disappointing match at home against the Maoris.

 

[LittleGuy]

8-52 Canada, and 7 tries to 1. Seems like Canada have gone All-Blacks on them Portugueseses. A huge step back from their past two results against the Canadians.

LittleGuy, you never answered my question about Canada's month of November and current form, I took it it irritated you maybe...Happy with Canada, any remarks you could throw out there, haven't seen much besides a disappointing match at home against the Maoris.

Difficult to evaluate, so many absenses from the side, today was good thats certain. Against the Maori if we'd had a better side I think it would have gone down to the wire I felt our efforts in that game were OK, but bench really let us down and some poor choices. Georgia the brawl just disintegrated things, while against Romania we were so unbelievably frustrating to watch.

There was way too much panic in the team and I felt we lacked leadership and a veteran prsence in the two Eastern Euopean sides. Also missing so many props, the Oaks scrum destroyed us. Crowley made some odd lineup choices in those games as well, leaving Pritchard on the bench backfired big time.

 

[canadafan]

Well, it wasn't as good as we hoped it was going to be, 4 matches, 1 slightly large defeat, 2 narrow loses away and thrashing a lowly Portugual side.

Now to do some breakdown.

Coaching: I get the game plan and understand what we were trying to do, but we didn't do it very well. All the players need pratice on simply catching a ball. I think his only real mistake was selecting Ardron as captain, it was too early for him and Buydens should have been selected instead. You can definetly see a '7s' game plan in our squad but the problem is that forwards aren't always able to keep up with it. I have found, except for the Portugual game, that our ball carrier gets isolated too often and we lose the ball at the breakdown. Also we seem to now play at a high tempo when sometimes that game needs to be slowed down and a reset needs to happen. Generally our D has improved a lot, but we have to execute much better on offence.

Players who have increased their value to the side:

Moonlight: Should always be starting at 7, he really is being wasted in 7s and should be playing pro.

Evans: Gave us hope for a future 15 again, definetly increased his value to the squad.

Beukeboom: I think he has improved immensely, and has increased his work rate around the pitch. He also brings some much needed toughness to the squad.

Barkwill: Simply from his ability to stay healthy.

Decreased their value:

Trainor: I know injuries have had a part to play, but I can't help but think that he has missed the boat on getting a pro contract.

Tiedemann: Now we see why no one picked him up for a contract in Europe.

Positional breakdown:

Loosehead prop:

Buydens is still the man and Wooldridge has come along very nicely (hope the rumours of him going pro are true) DSD is also progressing nicely. Good depth here.

Tighthead prop:

Tiedemann has had a disasterous year, man have we missed Marshall big time. Ilnicki is moving up the ladder quickly though and hopefully will go pro. decent depth.

Hooker:

Barkwill is best used as an impact sub, but is holding his own as a starter. Line out has gotten better throughout the year. Piffero needs to hit the gym big time, he looks a little small IMO. Hamilton needs to find a way to stay healthy. Not good depth.

Lock:

If they all show up, depth is pretty good but outside Cudmore lacks top end talent. Cudmore, Hotson, Phelan, Beukeboom give it good depth now.

Backrow:

Very solid starters and the question marks. Sinclair, Ardron and Moonlight would be my starting back row, but then where do you put Carpenter? Depth is building here and we are starting to be faced with difficult questions on who should start. Kleeberger is also slowly getting back to form to make it more difficult and we have a 6 coming up from juniors (Heaton) who looks promissing too. Good depth.

Scrum half:

Settled postion: Mack starts, Mackenzie subs, White looks for a job at MacDonalds. Good depth.

Fly half:

Underwood looks to be the favoured now, but he needs some lessons on game management and when to kick from hand and to find touch. I don't think Jones is an answer here, Braid looked like he got the message earlier and played better today, but yes, that was against Portugual. Poor depth (gets better if we ever cap O'Leary)

2nd5:

I think this could be Jones future position, and he should battle for it against Mackenzie. Blevins is an alright stop gap measure here. Poor depth.

Centre:

No DTH means no solid starter. Hearn is good against 2nd or 3rd tier opposition only, Trainor is still trying to find some form. An opening here for one of our young U20s guys. (McCann/Kay) Poor depth

Wing:

Paris and Hassler should be starting, Evans is alright here too. There are also other players waiting in the wings here: Wilson-Ross, that U20 star who names escapes me and others. Trainor and Hearn can cover here as well. Good depth.

Full Back:

Pritchard is still the man, Evans has regained his form. Also have Fitzpatrick coming up too. Looks like depth is not really a problem here again.

 

[LittleGuy]

That's a great evaluation canadafan.

I agree on Tieddemann, in fact I think he had the worst year of any player for Canada, when you've fallen behind Wooldridge in the depth chart that's not a good thing.

My "stock" ratings.(I'll factor in a tiny bit of the ARC in here as well)

Increased

Barkwill, by default, hopefully Hamilton can get healthy again things weer working well with him as starter and Barwkill coming on in 2nd half. Piffero didn't look overly impressive and seemed a little lazy to be honest, he should just be an emergency selection.

Wooldridge, did well at ARC and against Maori got hurt just as he was getting a chance a player that could take advantage of Tieddemann's fall.

Evans, really good stuff from him this EOYT and can play mulitple positions.

Jamie Mackenzie, looked much better than White at ARC, wasn't even a downgrade from Mack who as a little too frenetic at times.

All the Locks, everyone took care of buisness here, some solid bench and role players coming up here with Cudmore added to the side for the RWC and Sinclair and Ardron possible here in a pinch I think this position is getting sorted out.

Down

Tieddemann, a dreadful year has taken a step back since he returned from France, could fall down the depth chart quickly with Illnicki and Sears Duru on the way up.

White, Very much the 3rd man out at SH, maybe the 7's side can use him if not may fade from the side, or be a Wilson type emergency fill in.

Trainor, somewhat anonymous, but needs to be given a chance has just returned from a long injury. Maybe some 7's play can get him back in form.

Carpenter, not so much from his own play but is getting squeezed out by sheer numbers of loosies, did not look good in his short stint at Hooker which is kind of one of those pipe dream projects at the moment.

Blevins, was better today but was boneheaded against Romania, has a serious case of butterfingers at times.

Everyone else had some good, some bad and were sort of close to prior form, though I have a couple of notes to make.

1) No one else on this side other than Pritchard(maybe Braid to a vastly lesser extent) has been able to consistently goal kick.

2) Ardron was simply too young to be captain I love him and think he'll be a legendary player for Canada over the next decade, but Buydens was a better captain choice.

3) Sinclair has become way too mouthy, frequently getting into spats now with other players and the ref, it's like he's stolen that from Marshall.

4) DTH is reaching Cudmore levels of not being available, has now missed all but two of Canada's last 14 matches, Hearn is OK for PNC and lowwer level games but can't compete with Ireland, Maori etc.


My biggest question mark position wise is still FH by a mile, Hooker is probably the next most questionable but if Hamilton can stay healthy for more than ten minutes and Piffero get a little fitter we might go into 2015 with some sort of form here. Underwood looked OK especially for such a young player, Jones lacked confidence for the most part. I'd love to know the back story on O'Leary have they attempted to select him? Is he holding out? This would be revealing to know.

 

[psychic duck]

Trainor, somewhat anonymous, but needs to be given a chance has just returned from a long injury. Maybe some 7's play can get him back in form..

In fairness, he did create what should have been the winner against Romania until Phil Mack dropped it. And as you say he has had a serious long term injury. I really like him as a player but I think that Canada are always shifting the position of the backline isn't helping. Between Mackenzie, Hearn, DTH and Trainor, I've lost count how many times they've been switched from wing to centre and back again.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

I can't believed none of you talked about Nanyak Dala... this guy never gets any lime light or credit but he is consistently awesome. I thought he was one of the best players on the pitch every time he suited up for Canada and he gets involved in almost every single play.

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

I can't believed none of you talked about Nanyak Dala... this guy never gets any lime light or credit but he is consistently awesome. I thought he was one of the best players on the pitch every time he suited up for Canada and he gets involved in almost every single play.

it was only portugal u were playing its not like your versing the all blacks or something like that