Canadian rugby has reached a crossroads today in the do-or-die 2023 World Cup France qualifying game against host Chile in Valparaiso at 11 a.m. PT (on pay site Premier Sports).
The loser will be eliminated. The Langford-based sa国际传媒 team has never failed to qualify for the World Cup and has played in all nine previous editions. Chile has never qualified for the World Cup.
A loss for sa国际传媒 would essentially mean blowing up the program and rebuilding for the 2027 World Cup by giving the younger players a clear runway to gain experience the next six years. There would be basically no point in giving any player 27-28 or over any international playing time because they would be too old to be of any help in 2027. In a real sense, the veteran Canadian players are literally playing for their international careers today.
There would have to a brutally frank assessment of how sa国际传媒, a formerly reliable second-tier rugby nation, has tumbled down to the third tier and how to reverse the freefall.
鈥淲e have to take a hard look in the mirror and have to execute under pressure [today],鈥� said Canadian captain Lucas Rumball, who would be 32 in 2027. 鈥淲e have a lot of work to do.鈥�
World No. 21 sa国际传媒 won the first game of the two-game, total-point second-round qualifier against Chile 22-21 last Saturday night at a packed Starlight Stadium ahead of today鈥檚 second fixture at Estadio El铆as Figueroa Brander in Valparaiso, in which the stakes couldn鈥檛 be higher.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot on it,鈥� said Canadian head coach Kingsley Jones in a master stroke of understatement.
Jones has guided sa国际传媒 through a sword-to-the-throat situation before in beating Kenya, Germany and Hong Kong in winning the last-chance qualifier in gaining the 20th and final berth for the 2019 World Cup in Japan. But that was in neutral site Marseille, France.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 job today is compounded by being in the opponent鈥檚 home stadium in Latin America for the deciding game, never an easy task for Canadian teams in any sport. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big challenge travelling,鈥� said Jones.
The Canadian team departed Victoria on Tuesday for the trip down and spent one day in quarantine in their hotel in the port city of Valparaiso with all players needing to return a negative COVID-19 test.
What鈥檚 even more dangerous is that underdog Chile now believes it can win and is on the verge of taking the next big step in its development. In that regard, it is very much like the Canadian national men鈥檚 soccer team, with its new-found self-confidence. A team that is gaining belief is a very dangerous thing.
鈥淸It鈥檚 about] believing in our dreams,鈥� Chile captain Martin Sigren said last week after the result in Langford.
Canadian scrum-half Ross Braude, who scored two tries for sa国际传媒 in the opener against Chile at Starlight Stadium, said: 鈥淲e have to focus on what we do and not what they do. There鈥檚 a lot of fixing to do but we鈥檙e ready for the challenge.鈥�
sa国际传媒, which lost to the United States last month in the first round, must win to assure passage to the next round of qualifying against either the U.S. or Uruguay in July to see who gets the Americas 2 slot into Pool D of the 2023 World Cup with No. 4 England, No. 8 Argentina, No. 10 Japan and No. 13 Samoa.
鈥淲e want to save our lives and advance to play again next July,鈥� said Jones. 鈥淐hile are a much improved side. We are aware of that. They are really well coached by [former Uruguayan great] Pablo Lemoine, who has changed the culture.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e had some good wins and are in good form and are confident. We鈥檝e grown, too, and we鈥檝e had time together, and we鈥檙e really excited about this.鈥�
The Canucks need to be because failure today will have ramifications on many levels and shake Canadian rugby to its very core.
Performance program review, B3
