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Two Island-associated players who ply their trade overseas as rugby pros will co-captain world-ranked No. 23 sa国际传媒 Saturday in Edmonton against No. 16 Romania (2 p.m. Pacific Time on TSN 2).
Winger D.T.H. Van der Merwe from the Newcastle Falcons, nicknamed the Alphabet, was born in South Africa before relocating to Victoria. Cornish Pirates pro Brett Beukeboom from Lindsay, Ont., distinguished himself during an outstanding varsity career with the University of Victoria Vikes.
The pair lead a group of Canadian players who will be looking to make a dent in a decent Romanian side. sa国际传媒 is 2-5 all-time in Tests against Romania.
鈥淩omania is a tough team and the game is growing in their country,鈥� said Victoria-based Canadian head coach Mark Anscombe, whose Canadian side was blanked 13-0 last weekend in Calgary by a similar-sized and styled world
No. 12 Georgia side.
鈥淭he Romanians have big men and a strong team. We have a big task ahead of us, but it is one to which we are looking forward.鈥�
Ray Barkwill of the Castaway Wanderers of Oak Bay draws in at hooker, former UVic Vikes star Sean Duke at left wing, Connor Braid of Victoria at fly-half and former Castaway Wanderers star Ciaran Hearn at full-back.
Among those dressing reserves and ready off the bench will be Phil Mack of Victoria and Conor Keys from the UVic Vikes.
No. 8 and former Cowichan and James Bay star Aaron Carpenter will start and surpass Al Charron as the all-time caps leader for sa国际传媒 with 77.
The Romania Test is in preparation for sa国际传媒鈥檚 all-important two-game, total-points qualifying set against the No. 17-ranked United States on June 24 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont., and July 1 in San Diego to decide the North American berth at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
The loser between sa国际传媒 and the U.S. must go through backdoor qualifying that includes South America, something sa国际传媒 has never had to do.
鈥淚t is really important to get our game in order for the U.S. qualifying set, and hope we do not get too dinged up in the process,鈥� said Anscombe. 鈥淲e want to go in full muster against the U.S. It is crucial we have a good performance [today against Romania] to give us a lot of confidence going into those games against the U.S.鈥�
Edmonton will be the epicentre of men鈥檚 Canadian rugby today as sa国际传媒 takes an overwhelming 34-point advantage into the back-end of the two-game, total-point North American qualifier against the U.S. for the 2017 Junior World Cup following the 46-12 victory on Tuesday, also in Edmonton.
No. 13 George Barton of Duncan will captain sa国际传媒 today. Also starting will be Cole Keith of James Bay, James O鈥橬eill of the University of Victoria Vikes and Anton Ngongo of Castaway Wanderers, with William McDougall-Percillier of Mill Bay and Brennig Prevost of the UVic Vikes dressed in reserve.
