CANADA V WALES PREVIEW
With five wins under their belt in the Grand Slam campaign and last weekend’s rout of the American Eagles, another victory in Canada would make it a very satisfying ‘first-half’ for Ruddock and his coaching team. But 2005 is a year of two halves – and Ruddock is under no illusion as to how hard the next four games are going to be in one of the busiest year’s in the history of Welsh rugby.
New Zealand, Fiji, South Africa and Australia all lie in wait in the November series and Ruddock will be looking to sign off for the summer with another impressive victory over the Cannucks. The two games this month have given the Welsh management the chance to look at other options and combinations and they will blood another youngster tonight in Cardiff Blues wing Chris Czekaj. The Grand Slam is being used as the springboard for other players to prove themselves and show they can step in to match the 11 players now with the Lions in New Zealand.
The call-up of No. 8 Ryan Jones has caused a last minute change to the Welsh line-up for tonight. Alix Popham comes into the back row as a specialist No. 8 to join Jonathan Thomas and Colin Charvis.
The Canadian pack has been getting some expert tuition from former Wales skipper Jonathan Humphreys and they are expected to provide lively opposition up front. Former Wales U19 and U21 lock Luke Tait will join ex-Scarlet Jamie Cudmore in the second row and Welsh qualified Morgan Williams will be at scrum half.
The Canadians beat both the Eagles and Japan to win the Super Cup in Tokyo recently, but both triumphs were by small margins. Shorn of six professional players, including Dragons prop Rod Snow and Stade Francais lock Mike James, they are not the force they once were.
But Wales can ill afford to take anything for granted. This will not be as easy as things proved in Hartford last weekend when there were 11 tries in that 77-3 romp against the Eagles.
“Canada will be a lot more organised than the USA and will be over the jet lag after the tournament in Japan. Ireland overwhelmed the USA when they toured North America in 2000, but they were then held to a draw by Canada,” warned Ruddock.
“They will also have inside knowledge of Welsh rugby from assistant coach John Tait, lock Luke Tait and temporary forwards coach Jon Humphreys. We’ve made changes as we made it clear from the start that the aim of the tour was to win both games, but also to involve everyone in the squad.
“The magnitude of the fixtures we face next season mean that we need to know exactly what resources we have available, and it’s better to give the guys chances in this environment.”
Skipper Mark Taylor is expecting the rugged Canadians to do their best to try to disrupt his sides composure and patterns of play.
“I’m sure they have seen the way we play and will do their best to disrupt us at every turn. It’s going to be a big challenge, especially for the younger boys,” said Taylor. “We need to start well and take control as early as possible. That’s the aim. This is the final weekend of the season for the players and it is a mater of staying relaxed, but not being complacent.
“We know the type of rugby we are capable of playing, but we mustn’t assume things are going to be as easy as they were against the Americans.”
Canada:
Derek Daypuck (Castaway Warriors)
Quentin Fyffe (Calgary Irish)
Matt King (Balmy Beach)
John Canon (Coventry)
Stirling Richmond (Vancouver Rowing Club)
Ryan Smith (Brampton Beavers)
Morgan Williams (Saracens)
Kevin Tkachuk (Glasgow, capt)
Aaron Abrams (Castaway Warriors)
Garth Cooke (Benevento)
Luke Tait (ex-Ospreys)
Jamie Cudmore (Grenoble)
Mike Webb (Swilers)
Stan McKeen (Pacific Pride)
Colin Yukes (Agen)
Replacements:
Dan Pletch (Oakville Crusaders)
Pat Dunkley (James Bay AA)
Forrest Gainer (Trinity University)
Josh Jackson (Leonessa)
Pat Fleck (Meralomas)
Ed Fairhurst (University of Victoria)
Simon Pacey (Fredericton Loyalists)
Wales:
K Morgan (Dragons)
R Williams (Blues)
M Taylor (Sale, capt)
C Sweeney (Dragons)
C Czekaj (Blues)
N Robinson (Blues)
M Phillips (Blues)
D Jones (Ospreys)
R Thomas (Blues)
B Broster (Saracens)
L Charteris (Dragons)
R Sidoli (Blues)
J Thomas (Ospreys)
C Charvis (Newcastle)
A Popham (Scarlets)
Replacements:
M Davies (Gloucester)
J Yapp (Blues)
R Sowden-Taylor (Blues)
B Cockbain (Ospreys)
A Williams (Bath)
M Jones (Ospreys)
M Watkins (Scarlets)
Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)
