Canadian, Italian ruggers have plenty on the line
Third-place finish likely most either can hope for, with heavyweights in Pool B
TOKYO Former Ireland age-group flyhalf Peter Nelson will make his World Cup debut for Canada when it faces Italy in their first Pool B clash in Fukuoka on Thursday.
The 26-year-old Nelson, who qualifies for Canada through his Toronto-born mother, made his debut for the North Americans only two months ago.
The former Ulster player, however, has settled in well with the Canada squad, coach Kingsley Jones said, and had been selected because the country had been struggling to find a consistent flyhalf at the international level.
“Ten is a position that hasn’t really been settled in Canadian rugby for a while,” Jones said. “We played a number of players in that position.
“He’s been a professional rugby player for eight, nine years. There are not many Canadian players that we can say that about, unfortunately.
“The numbers are growing, of course, but he offers us a lot of experience, and the biggest thing really is a left foot (kicker). I’ve never seen a test team without a left foot on the team and, unfortunately, we haven’t got many of those guys around, so that’s a big bonus for us.”
Jones added his side had struggled with injuries, with Evan Olmstead and Taylor Paris both ruled out of the match, while Josh Larsen, a late addition to the squad when Justin Blanchet suffered a concussion, will start at lock.
Avoiding a potentially tortuous qualification process for the next Rugby World Cup will undoubtedly be a factor Thursday as the North Americans try to keep up their record of having played at every World Cup.
While both sides face off at the Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium with belief they could win all their games at the World Cup, few expect either to make the last eight.
World rugby heavyweights New Zealand and South Africa are also in Pool B. Short of several upsets of the scale of Japan beating the Springboks four years ago in England, the two should ease into the quarter-finals.
Finishing third in the pool is probably the best outcome for either Italy or Canada, with all of the third-placed finishers in Japan automatically qualifying for France in 2023.
Conor O’Shea’s Italian side has already seized a small advantage in that race, clinching a bonus-point victory by running in seven tries against Namibia in Osaka on Sunday.
O’Shea, however, was still unhappy with that performance and expected the team to lift its intensity and execution against the Canadians.
“We said in the changing room after the match that we weren’t satisfied,” O’Shea said on Tuesday. “We scored seven tries and wasted another seven or eight, which shows we can create tries.
“It is in the past. It was the first match of the tournament.”
The former Ireland fullback was forced to make 10 changes to his starting side due to the quick turnaround following the Namibia match, with regular fullback Jayden Hayward making his first start at centre.
The Italians also had only one full training run together after travelling to the largest city on the southern island of Kyushu. Jones has used Canada’s delayed start to the tournament to immerse the team in Japanese culture.
Jones selected Nelson to guide his team around the field on Thursday.
Canada was the last team to qualify for the tournament and Jones said before it started that his side was a little behind the others in terms of planning and preparation, but it had come together well over the last six weeks.
“We’re realistic. We know where we’re at,” he said. “All I expect from the players is to go out and give everything, no matter what goes before or afterwards.
“First for us is Italy, so we’re not looking much further than that, that’s the reality of it.”
Reuters