Canada lets Americans off the hook
First game in World Cup qualifier tied CANADA 28 UNITED STATES 28
Canadian rugby fans can be excused for cheering through their tears.
Langford-based Canada left numerous potential points on the field, and gifted two tries to the United States, in a helter-skelter 28-28 draw Saturday against the Americans in the first leg of the North American qualifier for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
“The score could have been much different in our favour,” said the veteran Phil Mack of Victoria, who started for Canada at scrum-half.
“But we’re in a good spot,” added the Oak Bay High and University of Victoria Vikes grad, on the phone from Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont., after the game watched by 13,127 fans.
The world-ranked No. 17 U.S. was more opportunistic than good as No. 23 Canada’s forward pack dominated possession.
“Our forwards stepped up and were dominant, and we want to repeat that in the second leg [next Saturday in San Diego],” Mack said.
The Americans led 28-18 at 53 minutes before Canada rallied for the tie with 10 unanswered points. There could have been more if not for a disallowed Canadian try.
Both teams squandered chances to win it in the waning moments as the Eagles’ heralded A.J. MacGinty missed a drop goal from close and Canada’s Shane O’Leary was wide on a makeable penalty goal on the last play.
“It is a trademark of our team that we never give up,” Mack said. “Even when we have been on the losing end of recent Tests, it has not been for lack of effort right to the final whistle.”
Starting centre D.T.H. van der Merwe was a wonder to behold, chewing up yardage to score twice to become Canada’s all-time leading Test try scorer with 25, surpassing former Victoria great Winston Stanley’s record of 24 that had stood since 2003. South African-born van der Merwe, like Stanley, played for James Bay Athletic Association.
“D.T.H. is always looking to make it happen. He steps up in big games,” said Mack, another JBAA product.
“He is one of the best players I have ever played with.”
It wasn’t as good an outing for another JBAA player from Victoria as the usually sturdy Connor Braid of Victoria, and CanadianIrish dual citizen O’Leary, gave away a combined 14 points to the Americans on a glaring turnover each. O’Leary kicked 13 points, but his three penalty misses may come back to haunt him.
Former UVic Vikes star and now Cornish Pirates pro, Brett Beukeboom, co-captained Canada with Van der Merwe.
The Castaway Wanderers of Oak Bay were well represented with Ray Barkwill, Jake Ilnicki and Ciaran Hearn starting for Canada. Former Cowichan and JBAA stalwart Aaron Carpenter scored his 17th career Test try.
Mark Ancombe, the Victoriabased Canadian head coach from New Zealand, said his squad showed “character” in coming back, but it needed to be “more clinical” and “make better decisions.”
There is a back-door route for the loser of the series, but that involves going through South America for a wildcard berth into the World Cup.
Canada, which has qualified for every World Cup, has never had to go through that route.
Canada is 38-17-2 all-time against the U.S. and holds a 15-4-1 edge in World Cup qualifying matches. It is recent form, however, that matters most in sports, and Canada has not won its last six Test matches against the Americans and has not beaten the U.S. since 2013 when it swept the last World Cup qualifier for 2015.
But Mack said: “We are feeling positively about this.
“There is a strong feeling in our room if we fix a few things over the next week, like accuracy, we are going to end up where we want to be.”
PENALTY KICKS: The Langford-based Canadian women’s rugby sevens team tore through England 45-0, Brazil 29-0 and Russia 24-14 to finish top of its group at the World Series tournament in Clermont, France on Saturday. The 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Canadians will meet Ireland today in the quarterfinals.