The players in contention have assembled six times, played four matches and been put through hours of training over the last six months in an exhaustive process to establish the best mix of players to represent Canada in the new tournament.
“It was never easy to wade through the talent we have seen in these half dozen camps,” admitted Murdy. “This is a tough competition and just like the players have to make tough sacrifices, so too do the coaches have to make some tough choices as well.”
Nearly two thirds of the squad were members of the Canada U19 team that reached the Division B final at the IRB U19 World Championship last year, including Nathan Hirayama who quickly progressed from age grade rugby to being part of his country’s squad at Rugby World Cup 2007.
The squad will also make use of players from Canada Sevens who have impressed on the IRB World Sevens Series circuit this season. Fly-half Hirayama has been a regular for Canada Sevens, whilst wing Ty Shannon and full-back Harry Jones have also appeared in the odd event for Shane Thompson’s Canada Sevens team.
Canada U20 will open their IRB Junior World Championship campaign against Australia U20 at Rodney Parade in Newport on 6th June, the same venue they will face their other Pool C opponents England U20 and Fiji U20. Upon completion of the pool stages there will then be two further rounds of play-off matches to determine the final placings in the inaugural tournament with the bottom nation relegated to the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy for 2009.
Canada U20 will play one more friendly match as part of their preparations against the Hyde Lay XV at Shawnigan Lake on 10th May, a traditional fixture for sides preparing for IRB World Championships and an opponent comprising invitational players from Victoria.
| Canada U20 Squad |
| Mike Berg |
| Kyle Buckley |
| Justin Chelak |
| Alistair Crow |
| Thyssen DeGoede |
| Matt Evans |
| Ryan Hamilton |
| Nathan Hirayama |
| Peter Jawl |
| Harry Jones |
| Jamie Mackenzie |
| Ian Manly |
| Russ Meidinger |
| Sebastien Pearson |
| Mauro Perizzolo |
| Struan Robertson |
| Josh Schlebac |
| Mike Scholtz |
| Keegan Selby |
| Ty Shannon |
| Andy Tiedemann |
| Conor Trainor |
| Russ Ward |
| Sean White |
| Jordan Wilson-Ross |
| Toni Wodzicki |
| Non-Travelling Reserves |
| Chris Barrett |
| Mike Berry |
| Brett Buekeboom |
| Chris Burt |
| Jeff Campbell Lucas DeBeer |
| Ryan Fried |
| Alex Hull |
| Brett Kelly |
| Evan Mallory |
| Scott Manning |
| Matt Mosby |
| Dave Owens |
| Dakota Poole |
| Mackenzie Poole |
| Cole Racine |
| Hayden Robbins |
