Key players absent from Canadian lineup

Canada coach Kingsley Jones has been forced to leave two key players out his lineup to face Italy on Thursday at the Rugby World Cup.

Winger Taylor Paris and flanker Evan Olmstead are out with undisclosed “lower-body” injuries.

Paris, who is Canada’s thirdleading all-time try scorer, has been battling injury and illness all summer, which has kept him out of action for the national squad. He last appeared in red against Hong Kong at the Rugby World Cup repechage tournament, where the Canadians secured the 20th and final spot at Japan 2019.

It’s another moment of disappointment for Paris, who suffered a major injury just weeks before the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In a statement, Jones described Olmstead and Paris’ injuries as “slight.”

Paris’s injury means that Jeff Hassler, no slouch himself, retains his spot on the right wing. DTH van der Merwe starts once again on Canada’s left wing.

Olmstead can also play in the second row but with the loss of Justin Blanchet and Kyle Baillie in Canada’s last match, a tight 20-15 loss to the U.S., it seemed likely Olmstead would be looked at to play blindside flanker.

Instead, Mike Sheppard, a bulky man but more familiar as a lock, will pack down on the side of the scrum. Starting in the second row are Conor Keys and Josh Larsen; Larsen was a lastminute addition to the RWC squad after Blanchet was ruled out with a concussion.

Canada’s lineup, otherwise, is nearly the same group that faced the Americans on Sept. 7 at B.C. Place and were perhaps unlucky to lose. Hubert Buydens and Matt Tierney remain the props, with Eric Howard hooking between then. Lucas Rumball is at openside flanker, while Tyler Ardron captains from

No. 8.

Gord McRorie remains the preferred choice at scrum-half, presumably because of his kicking prowess. Peter Nelson, who has shown flashes of attacking flair remains the fly-half, though much of his professional career with his former club Ulster has been at full-back or in the centres.

The only change in the backline is Nick Blevins starting at inside centre, with Ciaran Hearn dropping to the bench. Ben LeSage, who struggled to make an impact against the USA is at outside centre and will be leaned on heavily to contain the Italian backline, while creating attacking opportunities outwide. The Italians aren’t known for an expansive game but do have some threats on the outside.

Pat Parfrey, who has played some of the best rugby of his career this summer, remains the fullback.

On the bench are some usual suspects: Djustice Sears-Duru and Jake Ilnicki, as they have so often over the past half-decade, are the reserve props; Benoit PIffero again backs up at hooker. Luke Campbell is more of a specialist No. 8 but presumably could also be called on to play flanker, though Matt Heaton is the specialist flanker on the bench.

Jamie Mackenzie is preferred to Phil Mack as McRorie’s backup, while Hearn could conceivably be called on to play fly-half if Nelson and Parfrey are removed from the game but he’s more likely to come on as a centre.

And Andrew Coe is preferred to Conor Trainor as the final sub, presumably for his ability to cover at full-back as well.