A berth in the World Junior Trophy tournament will be on the line when Canada and the U.S. square off in a pair of U20 men’s XV rugby matches at Shawnigan Lake School next week.
The rivals will play next Tuesday (June 4) and Saturday (June 8) in a two-game aggregate series for the North American spot in the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy, which will be played in Brazil in July.
The Canadians have been in camp on Vancouver Island for two weeks, and while head coach Jeff Williams had not announced Canada’s final roster as of Friday morning, two Cowichan Valley products were among the squad of 32 invited to camp.
William McDougall-Percillier, a Brentwood College School grad from Mill Bay who recently signed a pro contract with Parisian club Stade Français, and Reese Tudor-Jones, a Shawnigan Lake product and graduate of Shawnigan Lake School, are among 32 players invited to the camp, which runs at Shawnigan from May 18 to June 3 ahead of games on June 4 and 8.
Both players participated in the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championships last fall, where McDougall-Percillier won a gold medal with the University of British Columbia and Tudor-Jones took bronze with the University of Victoria.
If McDougall-Percillier makes the cut, this will be his third straight year on the Canadian U20 team. He also earned his first caps with the senior national team earlier this year.
The World Junior Trophy is the second-tier world championship for U20 players behind the World Junior Championship. Since first qualifying for the tournament in 2010, Canada has only missed the event in 2016.
Both the June 4 and June 8 games at Shawnigan begin at 5 p.m., and will be streamed live on Rugby Canada’s Facebook page.
