Beukeboom brothers play together for Canada
Lindsay’s Brett Beukeboom didn’t think twice about swapping English rain for Uruguay’s sun and humidity.
After helping his rugby club to a league victory over the Feb. 19-20 weekend, the Canadian took an eight-hour bus ride home from Leeds to the town of Penzance in southwest England.
Beukeboom barely had a chance to unwind when he got a call from men’s national team head coach Mark Anscombe. Canada had just lost to the United States in Americas Rugby Championships play and was facing a number of injuries.
Despite knowing the travel nightmare ahead of him with the next tournament game set for Uruguay, Beukeboom bolted for the airport without hesitation.
“Any chance to be with the national team is a great honour,” he said Friday from Montevideo prior to the match. “To be called in was something I couldn’t turn down.”
The 26-year-old earned his 23rd test cap Saturday as one of five changes to the starting lineup when Canada visited Uruguay in its fourth of five ARC matches. Canada lost 17-13.
Brett Beukeboom started at lock for Canada and when his younger brother Matt took the field in the 63rd minute, they became the first Canadian brothers to play in the same test match since Phil and Jamie Mackenzie at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, according to Rugby Canada. Lindsay's Brett Beukeboom wins the ball against Romania's Valentin Poparlan in a line out during the Rugby World Cup Pool D match between Canada and Romania at the Leicester City Stadium in Leicester, England on Oct. 6, 2015. Beukeboom didn't think twice about swapping English rain for Uruguay's sun and humidity. After helping his rugby club to a league victory on the Feb. 19-20, the Canadian took an eight-hour bus ride home from Leeds to the town of Penzance in southwest England.
Also on the team is Rob Brouwer of the Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues, making it three players from Lindsay on the 23-member senior men’s national squad.
Canada will conclude its ARC campaign Friday against Brazil at Pacaembu Stadium in Brazil.
Brett Beukeboom’s South American odyssey started with a six-hour train ride to London before a flight to Miami and finally a connection to Montevideo — a trip that took about 40 hours from door to door.
“It was a long couple days,” said Beukeboom, the nephew of former NHL defenceman Jeff Beukeboom. “But to trade the rainy days in England for Uruguay is pretty nice.”
Ranked 20th in the world, the Canadians (1-3) played their first three tournament games on home soil. They lost to Argentina’s secondtier side 20-6 on a snowy pitch in Langford, B.C., before downing No. 30 Chile 36-15 on the same field.
The 17th-ranked Americans then thumped Canada 51-34 last weekend in soggy Burnaby, B.C.
The Canadians called up a relatively inexperienced squad for the event with an eye on development ahead of two crucial World Cup qualifiers against the U.S. later this year.
Most of the country’s top internationals aren’t with the team, but Beukeboom said there’s plenty of promise in the current group.
“We have some exciting young players,” said Beukeboom, a lock for the Cornish Pirates in the secondtier English Championship. “Playing rugby for the full 80 minutes is where we seem to be lacking.”
Anscombe has been troubled by his team’s slow starts — the U.S. led 15-0 after just 11 minutes — and was left seething by a number of sloppy lineouts against the Americans.
“Getting (Beukeboom) down here certainly has helped,” said Anscombe. “Getting some knowledge, some seniority, some leadership in that area ... we’re confident that will make a difference.”
Matt Beukeboom, Brett’s 19-year-old brother, was named to the Canadian bench after making his test debut against Chile two weeks ago.
“It’ll be the first time we’ve every played together, if we do,” Brett Beukeboom, who left home at 16 to pursue rugby, said prior to Saturday’s match. “It’s pretty exciting to have two members of the family in the national team.”