Canada beats Chile for 100th rugby Test win
Rugby Canada threw the party of the Century in defeating Chile 36-15 on Saturday at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
It was the 100th Test victory for Canada.
Canada is now 100-140-5 in Test matches since recording began in 1932.
With something historic came something new as 19-year-old international debutante George Barton of Duncan scored a try on his first touch on the ball for Canada in a Test match.
“First touch, first try . . . this is surreal,” said the graduate of the Shawnigan Lake School Stags.
“This is the stuff I dreamed about while growing up at the Cowichan Rugby Club with my dad and my brother. I think an alarm is going to go off soon to wake me up.”
But it wasn’t a dream, only a dream come true before more than 1,500 lively fans at Westhills.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better atmosphere to do this than on the Island. This is the peak of my life so far,” said George Barton, who hugged his dad, Bruce Barton, on the pitch following the game.
George Barton was among eight Canadian players earning their first caps Saturday, so that’s maybe why the win wasn’t as clean as Canada would have liked. Canada is ranked No. 18 in the world and Chile No. 30.
“I thought we played poorly, to be honest,” said Canadian coach Mark Anscombe.
“But we got the win and the bonus point. I thought some of the young guys performed well and that only bodes well for the future.”
Canada was more opportunistic than good on a Westhills pitch that was cleared and again green after a week of being choked with snow.
The man of the match was Taylor Paris, the Agen pro from Barrie, Ont., who scored a hat trick of tries for Canada and now has 10 in his Test career.
“Credit to Chile. They played us tough,” said Paris. “But a Test win is a Test win.” Dan Moor scored the other Canadian try while captain Gordon McRorie kicked for seven points and Robbie Povey four.
Canada is 1-1 in the 2017 Americas Championship tournament after opening with a 20-6 loss to Argentina XV last weekend at Westhills Stadium. Chile fell to 0-2.
Canada’s next Americas fixture is Feb. 18 at home against the United States at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby. That will be followed by away contests in Uruguay on Feb. 25 and Brazil on March 4.
All games in the Americas Championship are Test matches except those featuring Argentina XV.