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The defending champion Ontario Blues will meet the Atlantic Rock in Truro, Nova Scotia, on Saturday afternoon as the Eastern franchises get their Canadian Rugby Championship officially underway. Having witnessed a dominant BC Bears victory over the Prairie Wolf Pack last Friday, the Blues will be keen to put in a performance against the Rock, but it is unlikely to go quite so smoothly on Maritime soil.
While this will be the first regular match of the season for both sides, they met in Peterborough just two weeks ago for a pre-season friendly that saw the Blues come away 29-17 winners. Both teams, however, show heavy changes in their selections with numerous international players back in the fold.
Rob Brouwer leads out the Blues as part of an all-Canada front row alongside Eric Howard and Tom Dolezel. Fellow international Lucas Rumball starts on the flank, with national u20 rep Peter Milazzo on the other and two Canada ‘A’ selects in Hank McQueen and Mike Sheppard partnered in the engine room.
There’s no shortage of danger in the outside backs as Kainoa Lloyd, Dan Moor, and Rory McDonell will punish any stray kicks from the Rock halfbacks. All three have played test rugby in 2017. Veteran Stoney Creek general Shawn Windsor is partnered by another Canada cap in Andrew Ferguson in the halfbacks, and Canada u20 graduate Alex Colborne is handed a start in the midfield.
The Rock will start the venerable Frank Walsh once again at loosehead prop, with a more recent international in Conor Keys in the second row. All of the tight five have represented Canada at age grade or ‘A’ level, and 2016 Americas Rugby Championship cap Mike Hamson will start at the back of the scrum. Quebec captain Lucas Hotton and dynamic Tars openside Moe Abdelmonem complete a mobile loose forward trio, the latter making his official CRC debut.
In the backline stand some of Canada’s most promising young athletes. Aidan McMullan recently starred in the series against the Junior All-Americans while home-town favorite Brett Johnson made his Canada debut in the 2016 ARC and has also represented the Maple Leafs 7s development side. Cooper Coats narrowly missed out on national u20 honors last year as a flyhalf and boasts an exceptional kicking game, though he will start on the wing with 2015 World Cup attendee Patrick Parfrey captaining the side.
Both teams also feature strong players among the reserves with once-capped back row Andrew Wilson set to make an impact for the Blues along with u20 caps AJ Quattrin and Will Kelly. The Rock have a pair of age-grade stars of their own in midfielder Emil Sehic and prop Cole Keith, the latter having already made his senior Canada bow in the 2017 ARC.
While not quite the intimidating arena in St. John’s, the Rock will enjoy the home field advantage and will be quietly confident of their chances with x-factor players in Abdelmonem, Coats, McMullan, and Johnson in their lineup. The Blues are certainly more established with Rumball and Ferguson in particular among the very best of Canada’s domestic talent. Whatever the outcome, this will not be a repeat of the one-sided affair in Vancouver last week.
Kickoff is set for 5pm local time, with the match to be streamed live by TV1 Atlantic.
ATLANTIC ROCK
1 Frank Walsh, 2 Martial Lagain, 3 Jordon Power, 4 Conor Keys, 5 Brad Lester, 6 Lucas Hotton, 7 Moe Abdelmonem, 8 Mike Hamson, 9 Tony Pomroy, 10 Patrick Parfrey (capt.), 11 Cooper Coats, 12 Charles DeBove, 13 Aidan McMullan, 14 Dan Lantos, 15 Brett Johnson
Replacements: 16 Owen Parfrey, 17 Alex Forrest, 18 Cole Keith, 19 Evan Dickie, 20 Liam Carter, 21 Graham Barry, 22 Emil Sehic, 23 Connor Sheehan
ONTARIO BLUES
1 Rob Brouwer (capt.), 2 Eric Howard, 3 Tom Dolezel, 4 Hank McQueen, 5 Mike Sheppard, 6 Peter Milazzo, 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Jeremy Wright, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Shawn Windsor, 11 Kainoa Lloyd, 12 Alex Colborne, 13 Josh Campbell, 14 Dan Moor, 15 Rory McDonell
Replacements: 16 AJ Quattrin, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 Ryan Surgenor, 19 Kolby Francis, 20 Andrew Wilson, 21 Mario van der Westhuizen, 22 Will Kelly, 23 Johnny Sheridan
Date: Saturday, July 22
Venue: Farnham Mill Rugby Park, Truro
Kickoff: 17:00 local (16:00 ET, 13:00 PT)
Broadcasts: Live Stream
