
After a Springbok-dominated first half, Canada came out with a massive effort in the second half to hold the two-time Rugby World Cup (RWC) champs 19-7 for the final 40, ultimately losing 66-7 in game three of the RWC 2019.
Playing a man down after a red card from Josh Larsen late in the first half, it was Matt Heaton scoring his first try to finally get Canada on the board after a charging run by Jeff Hassler in the second. Peter Nelson added on the conversion.
“I’m proud of the second-half,” said head coach Kingsley Jones. “We were thinking on our feet at half-time and made some adjustments. We certainly put a decent shift in the second 40 with 14 players but full credit to the Springboks, they came at us from the start. The red card played a big part in the game but the first 30 minutes we were blown away.”
It was a special match for South African born winger DTH van der Merwe, who faced his birth nation for the first time in his career and broke the record for most World Cup appearances by a Canadian.
The first male player from the province of PEI to play in a World Cup, Kyle Baillie started in the second row to make his RWC debut alongside teammates Shane O’Leary and injury replacement Guiseppe du Toit who came off the bench in the second half.
With this test against some of the world’s best under their belts, all eyes now turn towards Canada’s final pool match against Namibia in just four days time.
“That’s going to be a big challenge you know,” added Jones. “They’re a side that has played very well in this competition. I know the coaches very well and they’re very well coached. So it’s a huge challenge for us and it’s really about resting up and recovering and being ready for that game.”
Canada will take the lessons learned against the 5th ranked Springboks into their final pool play match against Namibia on October 12th in Canada at 11:15pm ET/ 8:15pm PT. Fans can watch LIVE on TSN 1&4.
Canada’s Roster:
1. Hubert Buydens (Saskatoon, SK) Unattached
2. Andrew Quattrin (Holland Landing, ON) Toronto Arrows
3. Jake Ilnicki (Williams Lake, BC) Seattle Seawolves
4. Evan Olmstead (Vancouver, BC) Unattached
5. Kyle Baillie (Summerside, PEI) New Orleans Gold
6. Lucas Rumball (Scarborough, ON) Toronto Arrows
7. Matt Heaton (Godmanchester, QC) Rugby ATL
8. Tyler Ardron (Lakefield, ON) Chiefs ‘C’
9. Phil Mack (Victoria, BC) Seattle Seawolves
10. Peter Nelson (Dungannon, UK) Unattached
11. DTH van der Merwe (Regina, SK) Glasgow Warriors
12. Ciaran Hearn (Conception Bay South, NL) Unattached
13. Conor Trainor (Vancouver, BC) USON Nevers
14. Jeff Hassler (Okotoks, AB) Seattle Seawolves
15. Andrew Coe (Markham, ON) Markham Irish
16. Benoit Piffero (Issoire, France) Blagnac SCR
17. Djustice Sears-Duru (Oakville, ON) Seattle Seawolves
18. Matthew Tierney (Oakville, ON) Castres Olympiques
19. Josh Larsen (Parksville, BC) New England Free Jacks
20. Mike Sheppard (Brampton, ON) Toronto Arrows
21. Jamie Mackenzie (Oakville, ON) Toronto Arrows
22. Shane O’Leary (Cambellton, NB) Nottingham Rugby
23. Guiseppe du Toit (Maple Ridge, BC) Toronto Arrows
Canada’s Rugby World Cup 2019 Schedule:
Canada 7-48 Italy
Canada 0-63 New Zealand
Canada 7-66 South Africa
SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER
(Oct 12) 20:15 PT/ 23:15 ET/ 12:15 LOCAL TIME
CANADA v NAMIBIA
Broadcast: TSN 1 & 4
Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium, Iwate Prefecture, Kamaishi