Canada's road to New Zealand 2011, began Saturday August 6 at BMO Field in Toronto. In front of a crowd of nearly 10,000, Canada would go up against long time North American rival the United States Eagles. No matter the sport the rivalry always produces a battle and on the rugby pitch it would be nothing short of an all out brawl. Both teams were show casing their talent pool that would be heading to New Zealand to compete for global supremacy of rugby. The Eagles and the Canadians have their few professional players but a large majority of the roasters are the world's best amateurs. The mix of professionals and those on the cusp, leads to an exciting sometimes painful brand of rugby. The 'Battle at BMO' which was how the match was marketed was the first for both squads in a number a months and it certainly left each team areas to reflect on for improvement.
A battle the match was indeed, there was ruthless and tough competition at the breakdowns, which will be leaving bruised shoulders on both sides. I suspect that this strategy of play was taken from Manu Samoa's inspirational victory over Australia. The Samoans smashed rucks disrupting and flustering the Aussies, judging by Canada's competition at the break down on Saturday we can expect to see more of this hardnosed rugby out of the squad. I will certainly not be suspecting a win over New Zealand no matter how hard Canada competes at the break down but to smash a few kiwis would be nice. Canada did produce moments of brilliance, that had the boys at the club house on their feet but these often ended in turn over's due to knock-ons, tactical kicking errors or lack of support; exciting but painful.
Canada's top flight rugby athletes were a key part to the win. Daniel Tailliferrer Hauman van der Merwe (DTH) of the Glasgow Warriors was exceptional in the defensive line putting in hard tackles on the Americans, Jamie Cudmore of Clermont added a world strength and experience to the Canadian pack and Phil Mackenzie the Esher RFC center showed world class pass on the wing. With the supporting cast of Maritime Canadians Jebb Sinclair and Chauncey O'Toole who are set to join professional squads after the world cup, Canada has a hearty group of talented and motivated athletes making them very dangerous.
In the next five weeks prior to the World Cup the squad has to tighten up and sharpen up to turn those flashes and moments of brilliance into sustained play to put points on the board. As I mentioned earlier I am certainly not expecting the boys to win over New Zealand or France but I hope to see rugby played exceptionally well, and surprise some top tier nations with the hardnosed talent that Canada has to offer. Canada is seating in Pool A with New Zealand, France, Tonga and Japan and is destine to have a tough tournament on the horizon, put I can see the squad improving 10 fold over the next month to make a good crack at each team in the pool. Canadian rugby fans will have something to be proud of and the squad will make the world notice, we can play rugby.
.jpg "New Zealand will be locking horns with England, Ireland, Japan, France and Italy in the November series")
