Canada’s rugby coach is in a tricky spot
The challenges of coaching Canada’s men’s rugby team are myriad, on and off the field.
While Tier 1 nations like England have a structure in place that allows them to assemble their top talent for February test matches during the international window, Canadian coach Mark Anscombe is forced to do a delicate dance in choosing his overseas players.
In selecting his squad for the Americas Rugby Championship, the New Zealand native has essentially elected not to summon players from top European leagues to avoid disrupting their club careers.
“We haven’t brought them all back. It’s a balancing act of making sure we’re competitive but looking where players are coming from,” said Anscombe.
He has been able to bring back prop Djustice Sears-Duru of the Glasgow Warriors, backs Taylor Paris and Conor Trainor from their French second-division clubs and Matt Tierney, Matt Beukeboom and George Barton from their French club academy sides.
Anscombe’s 29-man squad for the ARC, which runs Feb. 3 to March 3, contains just six of his starting 15 against Samoa in No- vember as well as six of the reserves from that day.
Injuries are another stumbling block. But given much of the Canadian player pool is amateur, so are work and school.
“It’s very frustrating,” Anscombe said of the selection headaches. “It’s the reality of amateur rugby.
“Where I come from (in New Zealand), if you’re considering someone for an international, he’s a professional rugby player so there’s no question he’s available and he’s going to jump at the opportunity.
“But here the guys are amateur. They play club rugby and they go to school and they work. To take five weeks off to go and do something in a lot of cases is not their No. 1 priority.”
That is one of the reasons Anscombe has selected an extended 29-man ARC squad, which will be trimmed for the final two road games.