sa国际传媒鈥檚 primary official colour in international sport, of course, is red.
But perhaps it should be green for Saturday鈥檚 test match against Uruguay at Westhills Stadium in the opener of the Americas Rugby Championship.
A young Canadian team will take to the pitch at 4 p.m. in the Langford facility, with six starters to make their national team debuts. They are Gradyn Bowd of the UVic Vikes, Clay Panga of the Castaway Wanderers, Vikes-grad Lucas Rumball, Dan Moor, Mozac Samson and Paul Ciulini.
Six more newcomers will dress in reserve for sa国际传媒 and could also earn their first caps if they are subbed into the game off the bench. The latter are Eric Howard, Rob Brouwer, Kyle Baillie, Alistair Clark, Andrew Ferguson and Duncan Maguire.
The veteran influence will be provided up front from World Cup and Castaway Wanderers forwards Hubert Buydens, Ray Barkwill and Jake Ilnicki.
鈥淲e are not focused on whether the players are new caps or veterans,鈥� said Canadian head coach Francois Ratier.
鈥淲e only care that they bring that Canadian courage and heart to the pitch.鈥�
Ratier, the Canadian women鈥檚 head coach, is guiding the men鈥檚 national team on an interim basis until a replacement is hired for Kieran Crowley. The latter guided sa国际传媒 through the 2011 and 2015 World Cups but left last month to become head coach of a pro team in Italy.
Asked if there is a Ratier style of play, he replied no.
鈥淩ugby is not about the person,鈥� said Ratier, who guided sa国际传媒 to the 2014 women鈥檚 World Cup championship game in his native France.
鈥淩ugby is about the team. It is not me. It鈥檚 us.鈥�
sa国际传媒 is ranked No. 19 in the world and Uruguay No. 20. sa国际传媒 is 7-1 all-time against Los Teros.
鈥淲e see a 19 versus 20 matchup as a good challenge for us at a very competitive level,鈥� said Uruguay head coach Esteban Meneses, through an interpreter.
鈥淭his is an opportunity to evaluate the [post-2015 World Cup] process that we officially began last month. The work starts now [on the long road to the 2019 World Cup in Japan].鈥�
sa国际传媒 will also play world No. 42 Brazil on Feb. 20 at Westhills Stadium. The away tests for sa国际传媒 in the Americas Championship are in Houston against the world No. 16 U.S. Eagles on Feb. 13, at No. 5 Argentina on Feb. 28 and at No. 24 Chile on March 6.
Tickets for both the Uruguay and Brazil games at Westhills are on sale at events.rugbycanada.ca.
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