Mark Anscombe wants more fixtures for Canada against tier-one teams
Canada head coach Mark Anscombe wants more exposure for his team against tier-one teams as they gear up to face Ireland at Lansdowne Road in Dublin on Saturday.
The 56-year-old urged Canada to come up with an impressive performance at Aviva Stadium on Saturday and grab the attention of rugby fraternity.
Ireland will be heading into the game, fresh from their historic triumph against New Zealand last weekend. However, head coach Joe Schmidt will be fielding an entirely new XV for the clash against Canada, which does not concern Anscombe much.
"The boys have adapted well to what we want do to and we're really looking forward to the game," said Anscombe.
"We have to do well on Saturday so that we get credibility so that we can face off against other tier-one teams in the future."
In the World Rugby Rankings, Ireland have advanced to fifth after their win against New Zealand while Canada are positioned at 18th - something Anscombe wants his team to improve on.
Schmidt might play as many as eight debutants in the game but Anscombe is wary of the depth Ireland possess and is expecting a challenging game on Saturday.
"It's a different team from the one that faced the All Blacks but Ireland have that depth now, that was shown by the quality of their performance last weekend," said Anscombe.
"A full house at the Aviva Stadium is a great opportunity for our guys but it will be daunting going up against a very good Irish team."
Canada Team to face Ireland: M Evans (Cornish Pirates), DTH Van der Merwe (Scarlets), C Trainor (RC Vannes), C Hearn (London Irish), T Paris (Agen), C Braid (James Bay AA), G McRorie (Calgary Hornets), D Sears-Duru (Glasgow Warriors), R Barkwill (Castaway Wanderers), J Ilnicki (Manawatu), B Beukeboom (Cornish Pirates), E Olmstead (Newcastle Falcons), K Baillie (Balmy Beach RFC), A Carpenter (Cornish Pirates, capt). Replacements: E Howard (Brantford Harlequins), R Brouwer (Lindsay RFC), M Tierney (Section Paloise), Admir Cejvanovic (Burnaby Lake RFC), M Heaton (Darlington Mowden Park), P Parfrey (both James Bay AA), N Blevins (Calgary Hornets).
