Canucks get in gear with five-try win over Coventy
CANADA’S attempt to maintain their record of having qualified for every World Cup faces a test of endurance and nerve over the next 12 days in Marseilles.
Kingsley Jones’s team faces Kenya this afternoon, followed by Germany on Saturday November 17 before locking horns with Hong Kong only six days later in the Stade Pierre Delort.
Only one of the four countries qualify for Japan 2019, where they join New Zealand, Italy, Namibia and South Africa in pool B.
The former Sale boss therefore believes squad depth is of vital importance to his team’s hopes, and in the last ten days has used warm-up wins over Oxford University and Coventry to develop his selection options.
“We made a lot of changes for Coventry compared to the Oxford University game as for us it’s all about making sure we have depth,” said Jones, below.
“We know three games in quick succession will be a challenge and that every team will have injuries.
“We’ve got a lot of quality in our group, but we need to make sure we've got depth and that everyone is playing on the same page.
“Everything has been geared towards going to France. Six-day turn-arounds are tough and we've got to make sure the players are fresh.”
After seeing off the dark blues five days earlier, Jones’s team scored five tries in claiming a 35-12 success against a mix-and-match line-up put together by the Midlanders. Hooker Ray Barkwill opened the scoring, with No.8 Tyler Ardron, centre Nick Blevins, wing Kainoa Lloyd and a penalty try confirming their superiority. Hooker Phil Nilsen scored midway through the first half for Coventry, with wing Louis Roach crossing in the final minutes.
The Canucks’ forwards carried powerfully at the Butts Park Arena, while their set-piece also looked competitive, although fourth quarter discipline was an area of concern for the former Wales flanker.
“I thought we had some very good structure at times against Coventry,” Jones said.
“It was a good win - there was a lot of good things in our game. Full credit to Coventry, we knew they'd be a big challenge up front which is what we needed.
“We put together some good driving mauls, there was a lot of good attacking shape and by and large our defence also worked well.
“Unfortunately, when we made changes it went downhill - you can't give nine penalties away in 20 minutes. The guys coming on were over-eager as they were keen to impress, but we were playing over the line.
“A number of good players including DTH van der Merwe, Conor Trainor, Ciaran Hearne and Taylor Paris have not taken part yet, as they played for their clubs last weekend, so we now have to get them on the same page in a short space of time.”