Canada men’s rugby team continues to learn as it hosts physical competition Romania

The Canadian rugby team continues to learn from the situation as it turns its attention to 20th-placed Romania on Friday after being defeated 73-12 by 6th-placed Scotland.

The heavy defeat in front of an announced crowd of 11,447 at Ottawa’s TD Place dropped Canada down one spot to No. 22 in the world rankings, sandwiched between Chile and Namibia. On the positive side, six players won their first caps for Canada and another four could make their Test debuts at the same venue on Friday.

Such experiences are valuable to players making the transition from Major League Rugby to the Test arena.

“It’s a huge step forward physically,” said Canadian coach Kingsley Jones.

He noted that his team had little preparation time for the match against Scotland.

“We had about four hours and 10 minutes together on the training pitch. And to improve and change the habits in defence in that period – the defence coaches probably had about 80 minutes with the players on the pitch – is really difficult,” he said.

“But we’re going to make big improvements in that area,” he added. “Defense is the obvious area where we have to get better. And that just takes time. We have players from different systems in the MLR who are not used to playing at that speed under pressure.”

Romania, which survived two yellow cards, beat 18th-ranked USA 22-20 on Friday in Bridgeview, Illinois.

“I expect a physical battle,” said Jones, who saw a lot of the Romanians during his coaching period in Russia.

“They enjoy the confrontational side of the game, particularly the scrum and maul,” he added. “They also have some very good and very physical full-backs.”

Canada led Scotland 5-0 early, but trailed 24-5 at halftime. Scotland, who left some of their best players at home, won the second half 49-7 and finished with 11 tries.

“I think the scoreboard flattered them a little bit, but at the end of the day the scoreboard doesn’t lie,” Jones said. “Just a couple of weak efforts.”

Jones was pleased with the discipline of the Canadians, who were awarded just six penalties, and their performance in the scrum and line-out, but he also felt they dropped two or three tries after handling errors at the Scottish try-line.

“But I commend the payers for taking those positions in the first place,” he added.

Captain Lucas Rumball and Kyle Baillie scored tries for Canada.

“It was a great arena to play in,” Jones said of TD Place. “The support was fantastic.

“I don’t think the players let them down in terms of their effort and dedication. Well, I know they didn’t because the GPS numbers show that. It was a big effort.”

Nic Benn, Brock Gallagher, James Stockwood, Jesse Mackail and twins Talon and Takoda McMullin all made their debuts for Canada against Scotland, with Benn starting and the other five coming off the bench. Takoda McMullin became the 500th male player to earn a cap for Canada.

Talon McMullin moves into the starting lineup at inside center for the match against Romania, with veteran Ben LeSage moving to outside center. Mitch Richardson steps out of the matchday squad after injuring his shoulder against the Scots.

Benn retains his place in the starting line-up of 15.

The bench consists of rookies Dewald Kotze (Dallas Jackals), Calixto Martinez (Old Glory DC), Ethan Fryer (New England Free Jacks) and Mark Balaski (Pacific Pride).

Romania won 25-9 the last time the two met in Edmonton in June 2017. Romania has won the last six games since Canada won twice at the 1991 and 1995 World Cups.

The game against Scotland was the Canadians’ first since a 40-15 victory over No. 29 Brazil on Nov. 18 to snap a four-game losing streak. Canada has not defeated a top 20 team since beating the United States 34-21 in September 2021.

Canada is 4-7-0 since failing to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, the first time the country has missed the tournament.

On Friday, the Americans will host Scotland in Washington.