Canada’s senior men’s rugby team faces a stiff challenge on Saturday (Nov 12) as it begins a three match European tour.
Canada’s team has pulled its players from all across the country with players from Newfoundland to British Columbia in a 28 man squad for the tour.
In spite of their strengths, 18th ranked Canada is seen as the clear underdog as they go against the Irish in their first match. Canada has never beaten Ireland, which for its part is fully charged having just come off a stunning upset victory over the New Zealand All Blacks just a week ago in Chicago.
Canada and Ireland last scrimmaged at the Rugby World Cup last year, with the Irish winning 50-7.
Quoted by Rugby Canada, coach Mark Anscombe says the games are extremely important, “We’re playing a Tier 1 nation in Dublin in front of a full house and we don’t get to do that very often so it’s a great opportunity for the guys to show what they are capable of. With ranking points on the line, the other two games are critical if we want to move up in the world rankings.”
The Saturday match in Dublin at Aviva Stadium will be broadcast in Canada on CBC at 2:15pm ET/11:15am P and will also stream live at cbcsports.ca and via the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices.
Other matches in the tour will see Canada vs. Romania — Nov. 19 — Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest — 1pm ET/10am PT
The third contest will put Canada vs. Samoa — Nov. 25 —Stade des Alpes, Grenoble, France — 3pm ET/12pm PT
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