Vancouver Sun

Defence, discipline key against Uruguay

Stiff test awaits Canada at B.C. Place in Rugby World Cup qualifying match

- PATRICK JOHNSTON pjohnston@postmedia.com Twitter.com/risingacti­on

There’s no hiding from it: The main reason Canada is in a Rugby World Cup qualifying match today against Uruguay (5 p.m., B.C. Place Stadium, TSN1) is what happened against the United States last summer.

In a two-leg, total points series against the Eagles, Canada failed, for the first time, to qualify for a Rugby World Cup at the first hop. It wasn’t that Canada couldn’t score, as its 44 points attest.

Defence proved to be the problem. In both the home match — a 28-28 draw in Hamilton — and in the second-leg 52-16 collapse in San Diego, Canada’s defensive system bled tries. The Canadians struggled out wide, in scrums and at lineouts.

Canada coach Kingsley Jones, who took over in October, was open about what his team must do over the next two games against Uruguay: score plenty of points, but more importantl­y, defend well.

“The transition­s between attack and defence were poor in November, our startup play defence was much improved, but obviously our maul defence and our turnover defence has to be more controlled, more composed and I think you saw that if you watched the training,” he said. “They’re areas we know we need to improve from November.”

Canada’s November matches saw defensive struggles in record losses to Fiji and Georgia, with both teams putting up more than 50 points.

Even in the match against Spain in Madrid, Canada had moments of defensive frailty.

One consistenc­y through all those games was a serious problem in dealing with opposing mauls set up off a lineout. Georgia, the U.S. and Spain all had great success there, winning a clean throw, then setting up a powerful team drive forward, pushing the Canadians back.

“Obviously the scrum and the driving maul is an area (of focus) for us,” Jones admitted. “And also our discipline. We have to have very good discipline against this team.”

A well-organized maul can be a destructiv­e weapon against nearly any team, but there are ways to handle it. First, you can simply get enough weight in the way before it starts rolling. Or you can get creative.

At the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the Canadians recognized how metronomic Italy was in establishi­ng its mauls off lineouts. The Italians would simply assume there would

be immediate resistance after the ball was caught and just moved to protect the ball carrier. But the Canadians didn’t engage, simply standing off and waiting until the Italians had formed up, leading to obstructio­n penalties against the Italians as the Canadians intentiona­lly found an Italian forward standing illegally in the way.

It frustrated the Italians and nearly lost them the game.

A similar option will be for the Canadians to focus on the man with the ball as quickly as possible.

This is a tactic the Irish have used to great effect in the past, but it requires both quick thinking on the part of the players across from where the ball is being caught and a powerful player who is quick to react to the situation, seeking out the ball in the rear.

If the Canadians can make things hard on the Uruguayans, who boast a powerful scrum and are on a high, having not lost a game in their last 10 contests, then Canada will be feeling good.

With the personnel on the wings that Jones has been able to call upon, you have to think it will be advantage Canada.

Uruguay simply doesn’t have a finisher of the calibre of DTH van der Merwe, Taylor Paris or Jeff Hassler.

“If we control the possession, then we obviously have to focus on what we can do with the ball,” Jones said.

“I think we have a fair bit of quality in the group. But that quality is not going to rock up and win us the game. We have to play as a team.”

 ?? DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS/FILES ?? Canada coach Kingsley Jones says his team must improve on its transition to defence against Uruguay.
DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS/FILES Canada coach Kingsley Jones says his team must improve on its transition to defence against Uruguay.

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