Canada faces Chile in Westhills Stadium in Langford this Friday (Feb. 22) in the 2019 Americas Rugby Championships.
Captain Lucas Rumball said the team was excited to play in front of the home crowd again and is looking ahead to rebounding after suffering losses early in the tournament against Uruguay and Brazil.
Coach Kingsley Jones said he was disappointed with the team’s performance in the tournament, which has them in fifth-place standing out of six teams. So far, he added, “It shows our game management, discipline… was poor.”
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Players panicked in the last 30 minutes against Brazil, “taking their foot off the gas and overplaying,” and ultimately “chased the game,” he said.
“To lose to a team that never entered on 22 was remarkable; they never came in on 22 possessions in the game.”
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However, the team came out of the Brazil loss thinking they could have done a lot better, Jones said.
“I’m expecting a response, a reaction to a disappointing defeat,” he noted. The team is 0-2 in the tournament, same as Chile.
The team’s set piece has been a strong suit that the team will carry on and improve into the next game, Jones said.
The recent snow dump has affected practices, sending the players to practice twice at Fred Milne Park for an hour or two each time.
Canada will play against first-place Argentina on March 1 in Westhills Stadium. Both home games have a 7 p.m. kickoff.
swikar.oli@goldstreamgazette.com
