CANADA ANNOUNCES ROSTER TO FACE MAORI ALL BLACKS
Carpenter, Ardron and Buydens among pros returning home to face Maori All Blacks at BMO Field LANGFORD, BC – Canada’s Men’s Fifteens head coach Kieran Crowley has announced his 26-player roster to face the New Zealand Maori All Blacks on November 3 at BMO Field in downtown Toronto. The announcement comes amongst an incredibly busy fall schedule for Canada’s Men’s Rugby Program, following the IRB Americas Rugby Championship in Langford, BC and the Gold Coast Sevens in Australia. Next Sunday’s match against the Maori All Blacks also kicks off a busy November for Canada which sees Crowley’s side play four games in four different countries in 21 days. Immediately following the game in Toronto, the team will depart for Europe to face Georgia in Tbilisi on November 9, Romania in Bucharest on the 16thand finally Portugal in Lisbon on the 23rd. Aaron Carpenter, who has been released from the Cornish Pirates along with Matt Evans, will captain Canada. Also returning for national duties from their overseas clubs will be Tyler Ardron, Jeff Hassler, Jon Phelan and Hubert Buydens. 16 of the players named either featured in the Canadian Rugby Championship – Canada’s top domestic-based competition – or the IRB Americas Rugby Championship. Due to injuries and overseas commitments a number of Canada’s top internationals are unavailable for selection, including Sean Duke, Nathan Hirayama, Jason Marshall, Tyler Hotson, Jebb Sinclair, James Pritchard, Andrew Tiedemann, Nick Blevins, Phil Mackenzie, Jamie Cudmore, DTH van Der Merwe, Tom Dolezel and Brett Beukeboom. The New Zealand Maori All Blacks – comprised of players born with Maori genealogy – announced their roster earlier this week. The side will be captained by Wellington and Hurricanes back, Tim Bateman and features six former All Blacks and 11 players who featured for the Maori All Blacks last year. Over 16,000 tickets have been sold for this highly anticipated match at Ontario’s premier outdoor sporting venue. To purchase tickets, please visitwww.ticketmaster.ca Canada versus the New Zealand Maori All Blacks will be LIVE on TSN and RDS, Rugby Canada’s Official Broadcast partner, at 1pm ET/10am PT. Canada’s Roster for New Zealand Maori All Blacks Game Tyler Ardron, (Ospreys/Ontario Blues) Lakefield, ON Players Unavailable due to Professional Commitments or Injury: Brett Buekeboom, (Plymouth Albion RFC) Lindsay, ON Senior Men’s Team Staff: Kieran Crowley – Head Coach CANADA vs. NEW ZEALAND MAORI ALL BLACKS CANADA vs. GEORGIA CANADA vs. ROMANIA CANADA vs. PORTUGAL Canada’s Senior Men’s Fifteens Team is proudly sponsored by Trafigura. Source : http://www.rugbycanada.ca/ |