Alexis Creek’s Jake Ilnicki and the Canadian men’s 15-a-side rugby team have qualified for the 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Ilnicki, 26, and the Canadians came out Friday versus Hong Kong a tenacious bunch in its World Cup qualifier, battling through wet conditions and the offensive efforts of Hong Kong in a 27-10 victory to punch their ticket to the 2019 World Cup.
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Ray Barkwill opeend up the scoring for Canada followed by DTH van der Merwe, who chased down a blocked kick and dotted down for a try. Gordon McRorie made both conversiosn to put Canada up 14-3 at the half.
McRorie came back from a yellow card in the first to add six points in penalty kicks for Canada, widening its lead to 20-10.
van der Merwe then scored his second of the match in beautiful fashion, beating three defenders to touch down for a try in the corner. Adding on the conversion from McRorie, Canada officially booked its ticket to Japan in the 27-10 triumph.
“Rugby Canada is incredibly pleased that our men’s 15s team has qualified for the 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup in japan,” said Allen Vansen, CEO of Rugby Canada.
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“First and foremost, we want to extend a huge congratulations to the players, coaches and staff who have been working tirelessly to achieve this important result. All of Canada has been behind this team, and we could not be more pleased for this dedicated group to have achieved this result.”
Rugby Canada’s men’s 15s team will now join defending Rugby World Cup champions New Zealand in pool B alongside South Africa, Italy and Namibia for the 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup being held in Japan net fall.
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