It鈥檚 not exactly the way any national side wants to head into the World Cup.
The Langford-based Canadian men鈥檚 rugby team suffered a momentum-depleting 47-18 loss to world No. 9 Fiji on Sunday at the Stoop in Twickenham, London.
The Canadian highlights were the two tries scored by overseas pro DTH van der Merwe of Victoria, the native of South Africa and former James Bay Athletic Association winger, who moved into third place on the all-time Canadian list with 16 career Test tries.
鈥淲e just weren鈥檛 clinical,鈥� lamented Mill Bay-based Canadian head coach Kieran Crowley, a 1987 World Cup champion with the New Zealand All Blacks.
It was the final tuneup before world No. 18 sa国际传媒 plays its 2015 World Cup opener against No. 6 Ireland on Sept. 19 at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff (6:30 a.m. PT on TSN). sa国际传媒鈥檚 other Group D matches are on Sept. 26 against Italy in Leeds, Oct. 1 against 2011 World Cup runner-up France in Milton Keynes and Oct. 6 against Romania in Leicester.
sa国际传媒 was looking to build off wins in their previous two games. The 16-15 victory over No. 13 Georgia in Esher last week, led by the outstanding play of University of Victoria Vikes products Andrew Tiedemann, Nathan Hirayama and Phil Mackenzie, ended a seven-game Canadian Test losing streak. sa国际传媒 also defeated the pro club Glasgow Warriors the week before in Halifax.
The famously fast Fijians 鈥� known more for sevens and an Olympic-medal threat next year for Rio 鈥� now hold an 8-3 all-time Tests advantage over sa国际传媒.
鈥淸Fiji] is a real handful,鈥� said Crowley, in a statement.
鈥淚f any of these [World Cup] teams take them lightly they鈥檝e got a real problem. They鈥檝e got some outstanding players on their team.鈥�
As for his own team, Crowley noted: 鈥淲e鈥檝e still got a bit of work to do. We鈥檝e given everyone a go in the lead-up games. We鈥檙e happy with where we are at. There鈥檚 some work to do but we鈥檙e getting there.鈥�
Island players in the lineup on Sunday included Hubert Buydens, Nanyak Dala, Jake Ilnicki and Ciaran Hearn of the Castaway Wanderers of Oak Bay, overseas pros and former James Bay players Connor Braid and van der Merwe from Victoria and John Moonlight and Phil Mack of James Bay. Others on the 31-player Canadian roster include Cornish Pirates pro Matt Evans from Duncan, Ray Barkwill of CW and UVic Vikes products Phil and Jamie Mackenzie, Hirayama, Tiedemann and Brett Beukeboom.
Buydens knows the clock is ticking on last-minute mopping up before it matters for real.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still making those silly little mistakes,鈥� said the CW player, in a statement.
鈥淲e really have to clean that up for our next game against Ireland because it all counts then. No more freebies.鈥�
Tyler Ardron will make his World Cup debut by captaining sa国际传媒, based at the Rugby sa国际传媒 Centre of Excellence in Langford, which this summer announced a $7.8-million upcoming upgrade.
