Kieran Crowley has named his 31-man Canada squad for Rugby World Cup 2015, one that contains 18 players who have never experienced the global tournament before. Ireland play the Canadians in their second pool match.
The 31-man squad is split 17/14 between forwards and backs and among the familiar names is Clermont Auvergne second row Jamie Cudmore, who will play in his fourth World Cup. Irish and particularly Munster supporters will remember him for the red card he received at Thomond Park for punching Paul O'Connell in a Heineken Cup match.
Cudmore becomes only the fifth player in Canadian history to play at four tournaments, joining Gareth Rees, Rod Snow, Mike James and Al Charron. Aaron Carpenter and DTH Van Der Merwe - the latter will play for the Scarlets next season after joining from Guinness Pro12 champions the Glasgow Warriors - will be playing in their third Rugby World Cup.
“They bring a wealth of experience,” said Crowley.” Jamie’s been around a long time and Jebb Sinclair and Jason Marshall were both in the last World Cup. You can’t beat experience and it will add a lot to the group. For all of the players selected, the World Cup represents rugby’s greatest stage and we have an opportunity to uphold Canada’s history dating back to 1987.”
Tom Dolezel and Taylor Paris miss out due to injury.
Crowley, a Rugby World Cup winner as a player in 1987 with the All Blacks, enters his fifth Rugby World Cup campaign, having been to the first two as a player with New Zealand, serving one as a selector, and now entering his second in a row as coach of Canada.
Compared to their Pool D opponents, Canada are light on test match experience with only 650 test caps shared between all 31 players.
Canada will face world ranked number two Ireland, RWC 2011 runners up France, Six Nations participants Italy and Romania, the side immediately above them in the World Rugby Rankings.
Canada has played all four teams before at a Rugby World Cup and is 2-5 with the two wins coming against Romania in 1991 and 1995. Their best finish was RWC 1991, when the team reached the quarter-finals.
Canada World Cup squad: Tyler Ardron (capt.), Ray Barkwill, Brett Beukeboom, Nick Blevins, Connor Braid, Hubert Buydens, Aaron Carpenter, Jamie Cudmore, Nanyak Dala, Matt Evans, Kyle Gilmour, Jeff Hassler, Ciaran Hearn, Nathan Hirayama, Harry Jones, Phil Mack, Jamie Mackenzie, Phil Mackenzie, Jason Marshall, Gordon McRorie, John Moonlight, Evan Olmstead, Benoit Piffero, Djustice Sears-Duru, Jebb Sinclair, Richard Thorpe, Andrew Tiedemann, Conor Trainor, Liam Underwood, DTH van der Merwe, Doug Wooldridge.
