WALES 68
CANADA 12
It was a searing lesson learned against one the legendary national teams in one of the cradles of rugby.
The Langford-based Canadian team was routed 68-12 by Wales before a capacity-limited crowd of 8,200 fans at 74,000-seat Principality (formerly Millennium) Stadium in Cardiff, on the site where the iconic Cardiff Arms Park once stood.
sa国际传媒 was hoping to get off to a quick start and Quinn Ngawati of Victoria, among seven Canadian players earning their first caps, almost provided it with a bold steal in the first two minutes but it led to a missed penalty by Peter Nelson. sa国际传媒, however, still got its quick strike through a try by Kainoa Lloyd to go ahead 5-0.
But it didn鈥檛 get better than that for sa国际传媒, even with the Welsh team missing several players to a British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa. The plucky Canadians kept sticking their noses in the thick of the battle and it paid off in the second half with a Cooper Coats try converted by Nelson.
鈥淔ull credit to sa国际传媒, they came at us in the second half,鈥� Wales captain Jonathan Davies said in a statement.
The Canadian captain, Lucas Rumball, rued the several Canadian mistakes against the more accomplished Welsh.
鈥淲e gave them too many opportunities and a clinical team like that will take them,鈥� said Rumball.
Rumball said the outmatched Canadians were game: 鈥淭he effort 鈥� the boys always got up and were ready for the next tackle and we can build off that. We鈥檒l continue to work on set pieces and some detail play and come back ready for England next week.鈥�
That comes next Saturday at Twickenham, another hallowed home of rugby.
Island players on the tour with sa国际传媒 are St. Michaels University School grad Ngawati, Josh Larsen of Nanaimo, University of Victoria Vikes and Castaways Wanderers product Ilnicki, Will Percillier of Victoria, Doug Fraser of Ladysmith, and senior national team debutantes Isaac Olsen and Lachlan Kratz of Victoria and Foster Dewitt of Courtenay. There are 11 uncapped players in total with sa国际传媒. No players from the Langford-based Canadian sevens team were picked because they are preparing for this month鈥檚 Tokyo Olympics.
The Canadian Tests against world No. 6 Wales and No. 3 England are in preparation for the upcoming 2023 World Cup regional qualifiers and are the first games for sa国际传媒 since the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Americas qualifying for the 2023 World Cup in France begins in the fall with sa国际传媒 playing home games against the U.S. on Sept. 4 in St. John鈥檚 and South America No. 1 or No. 2 on Oct. 2 at Starlight Stadium in Langford.
