Ottawa Citizen

Heavy losses help Canada over long run, coach says

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KOBE, JAPAN A victory over Namibia would mark a successful World Cup for Canada, although giving rugby a “shop window” outweighs the results, coach Kingsley Jones said Tuesday after a 66-7 loss to South Africa.

The unsurprisi­ng setback came just six days after the Canadians were humbled 63-0 by world champion New Zealand.

Jones said that, if the game is to grow in Canada, the national team needs to be playing at this level, whatever the outcome.

“The biggest thing for rugby in Canada is to be in the shop window,” Jones said. “We have a big audience and the support tonight was incredible.

“We have earned the right to be in this competitio­n. Playing the two top teams in the world in six days is a challenge, but it was one the players relished.”

Jones believes the road to profession­al rugby also needs to be smoothed if the national team is to make progress.

“There is a strong rugby community in Canada and we need those players. This shop window will encourage young Canadian players to keep playing and be the next Tyler (Ardron).

But the pathway to profession­al rugby is “broken,” he said.

“The domestic game in Canada, until recently, was amateur. We do have the Toronto Arrows now taking part in the MLR (Major League Rugby), which is a pathway for players to get an opportunit­y to be in a daily training environmen­t.

“But it’s becoming more difficult for our players to get a chance (in Europe).”

Canada has a final opportunit­y to pick up a win on Sunday against Namibia.

Jones believes he’ll be able to call the tournament a success if they can leave Japan with a victory.

“It would be considered, from my point of view, very successful if we do get a win,” he said.

Reuters

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