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The game that never was will be revisited in Amsterdam on Saturday. It is perhaps fitting that Canada will take on Namibia at a neutral venue. The two sides were scheduled to meet in Kamaishi at Rugby World Cup 2019, but the match was eventually scrapped due to damage caused by Typhoon Hagibis.
It’s the third occasion that Canada have met Namibia in test conditions. The first was a blowout results at Toulouse during the 1999 World Cup, the second a narrow victory for the Canadians in the north of Wales in 2014. They have only collided at u20 level since.
Kingsley Jones has made four changes to his starting lineup, three in the pack, following the win over the Netherlands at the same venue last weekend. A straight switch at scrumhalf sees Jason Higgins getting the start in an otherwise unchanged backline, with Ross Braude on the bench.
Corey Thomas moves to the blindside flank with Kyle Baillie ruled out, and Conor Keys fills the vacancy at lock. The front row is reinforced with Djustice Sears-Duru and Andrew Quattrin at loosehead prop and hooker respectively.
There could be two debuts off the bench with both tighthead reserve Kyle Steeves and flanker Owain Ruttan uncapped. Foster DeWitt is backup for Sears-Duru while Oxford University’s Piers von Dadelszen covers lock or loose forward, having made his test bow in July against Spain.
Namibia were defeated by Spain in Madrid last week with discipline a concern for Allister Coetzee. There are four personnel changes to the lineup this week and two positional swaps.
Johan Retief moves from lock to blindside flanker in the absence of Janco Venter. Max Katjijeko comes into the second row, and Melbourne Rebels openside Richard Hardwick is set to make his debut for the Welwitschias as a replacement after switching allegiance from Australia.
It’s a new halfback pairing this week with TC Kisting coming in at scrumhalf and Cliven Loubser moving up to the No10 shirt from fullback. With no Divan Rossouw there is a first cap handed to UNAM winger Darryl Wellman, with Andre van den Berg getting a first start at fullback.
Cool temperatures are on the forecast which will be somewhat more familiar to the Canadians but should not affect the result. Namibia’s strength is in the back row, even without Venter, and a 6/2 split on the bench offers real energy late in the game. Despite sitting two spots below the Maple Leafs on the World Rankings, it’s the Welwitschias who are preparing for RWC 2023.
The Canadians have now been together for the best part of a month and showed greater cohesion than the Netherlands. Their starting side looks competitive, but they concede significant experience to the Namibians among the reserves. Give the favorites tag to Namibia in a close match.
Kickoff is set for 2:30pm local time, 8:30am Eastern, 5:30am Pacific. TSN’s digital services will broadcast for Canadian viewers while a live stream will also be available on Eyecons.
CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Tyler Rowland, 4 Conor Keys, 5 Josh Larsen, 6 Corey Thomas, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Siaki Vikilani, 9 Jason Higgins, 10 Robbie Povey, 11 Josiah Morra, 12 Josh Thiel, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Cooper Coats
Replacements: 16 Lindsey Stevens, 17 Foster DeWitt, 18 Kyle Steeves, 19 Piers von Dadelszen, 20 Owain Ruttan, 21 Ross Braude, 22 David Richard, 23 Brock Webster
NAMIBIA
1 Jason Benade, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 3 Casper Viviers, 4 Adriaan Ludick, 5 Max Katjijeko, 6 Wian Conradie, 7 Johan Retief, 8 Prince Gaoseb, 9 TC Kisting, 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 Darryl Wellman, 12 Le Roux Malan, 13 Johan Deysel (capt.), 14 Warren Ludwig, 15 André van der Berg
Replacements: 16 Wicus Jacobs, 17 Jano Otto, 18 Chemigan Beukes, 19 Adriaan Booysen, 20 PJ van Lill, 21 Damian Stevens, 22 Richard Hardwick, 23 PW Steenkamp
Date: Saturday, November 19
Venue: NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam
Kickoff: 14:30 local (05:30 Pacific, 08:30 Eastern)
Referee: Jordan Way (Australia)
Broadcasts: Eyecons, TSN Digital (Canada)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2014-11-07 – Canada 17, Namibia 13 (Colwyn Bay)
1999-10-14 – Canada 72, Namibia 11 (Toulouse)
