France formidable foe for Canadians
Still rueing missed chances against Italy, Canada has little time to regroup ahead of what could be a long night Thursday against seventhranked France at the Rugby World Cup.
The 18th-ranked Canadians led No. 14 Italy 10-0 in the first half Saturday and 15-13 in the second and controlled play for stretches. But mistakes caught up with them and the Italians survived the Canadian onslaught to win 23-18.
“To be honest it was pretty gutting afterwards they were pretty down for a fair while — which is natural,” Canadian coach Kieran Crowley said of his players.
As a Tier II nation, Canada rarely gets a chance to play elite teams other than at the World Cup. So a Tier I scalp would have been a handsome prize. Instead, the weekend game in Leeds gets filed under the “What might have been” category.
Things only get more difficult at Stadiummk in Milton Keynes against France, which is 7-1 all-time against Canada and has won the last six meetings between the two, outscoring Canada 239-70 along the way.
Canada’s lone win, an 18-16 decision, came 21 years ago in Ottawa.
France (2-0-0, nine points) cur- rently stands second in Pool D behind fourth-ranked Ireland (2-0-0, 10 points). Canada (0-2-0, one point) is fourth in the five-team group.
“This is basically I think a dress rehearsal for them for Ireland,” Crowley said of the French. “They’ve got just about their strongest team out there.”
The top two teams in each pool advance to the quarter-finals while the third secures automatic qualification for the next World Cup.
France opened with a 32-10 win over Italy before dumping Romania 38-11. Canada opened with a lost 50-7 loss to Ireland.
In choosing his team for France, Crowley has made four changes in the forward pack and two in the backs.
Aaron Carpenter comes in for Ray Barkwill at hooker with Brett Beukeboom replacing Jebb Sinclair at lock.
There are two changes in the back row with Kyle Gilmour and Richard Thorpe coming in for Nanyak Dala and John Moonlight.
Crowley says Barkwill and Moonlight are being given a rest after a heavy work load, with the more physical Thorpe coming in to help combat the French drive up the middle.
Beukeboom, rested against Italy, gets another start after excelling in the opening game against Ireland.