CANADA v WALES
Venue: York University, Toronto Date: Saturday, 30 May Kick-off: 1945 BST Coverage: Exclusively live on BBC TWO Wales, full commentary on BBC Radio Wales, plus Sunday highlights on S4C
 Scarlets full-back Daniel Evans will make his Wales debut against Canada |
Uncapped Scarlets pair Daniel Evans and Jonathan Davies will make their Wales debuts against Canada on Saturday. Caretaker coach Robin McBryde has named a youthful backline that, apart from experienced scrum-half Gareth Cooper, boasts just 10 international caps. Blues wing Chris Czekaj returns for his first cap since fracturing an ankle on last year's Australia tour. Ryan Jones leads the side from number eight, while Bradley Davies and Deiniol Jones form an all-Blues lock pairing. Duncan Jones, his Ospreys team-mate Richard Hibbard and John Yapp provide a gritty front row, and Dafydd Jones and Robin Sowden-Taylor complete the pack alongside the skipper in the back row. Yapp is not a natural tight-head but Wales hope the Blues player will develop in that position. As well as full-back Evans and centre Davies, the bench contains three more uncapped players in Craig Mitchell, Sam Warburton and Jonathan Spratt. There is plenty of experience among the replacements though, with 67-cap scrum-half Dwayne Peel, lock Ian Gough (59 caps) and fly-half Nicky Robinson (12) held in reserve.  | 606: DEBATE |
Cooper and 19-year-old Ospreys stand-off Dan Biggar are preferred to Peel and Robinson as the starting half-backs. They will be tasked with releasing a backline that, besides its youth, has power and pace in abundance. Andrew Bishop forms a combative midfield alongside Davies, with Tom James providing another exciting attacking threat on the opposite wing to Blues team-mate Czekaj. Canada limited Six Nations Grand Slam champions Ireland - albeit without their Lions - to a 25-6 win last weekend and McBryde is expecting an equally tough time at Toronto's York University. "Canada competed well with Ireland for 60 minutes and it took a significant moment halfway through the second half when Ireland turned them over and scored from virtually the length of the field to prove a turning point," said McBryde. "The Canadians will be buoyed by that and they will be hunting for us. We will need to be right at the top of our game if we want to get the outcome we are working towards. "Both Daniel and Jonathan have earned the right to wear the jersey and now have the chance they've been waiting for. "We are confident that if we need to call on Craig, Sam Warburton and Jonathan Spratt to make their debuts that they will serve us well. "Perhaps the most difficult selection was at half-back, where we have four good contenders for the jersey, and both Nicky and Dwayne have been unlucky to miss out. "But they could yet have something to say about how the Test goes on Saturday and may also find that we are looking at different combinations against the USA next week." Wales complete their summer tour the following Saturday when they play the USA in Chicago.
Wales: Daniel Evans (Scarlets); Tom James (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Andrew Bishop (Ospreys), Chris Czekaj (Blues); Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Gareth Cooper (Gloucester); Duncan Jones (Ospreys), Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), John Yapp (Blues), Bradley Davies (Blues), Deiniol Jones (Blues), Dafydd Jones (Scarlets), Robin Sowden-Taylor (Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys, capt).
Replacements: Gareth Williams (Blues), Craig Mitchell (Ospreys), Ian Gough (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Blues), Dwayne Peel (Sale), Nicky Robinson (Blues), Jonathan Spratt (Ospreys). Canada squad: Mike Burak (Cornish Pirates/Vancouver, BC), Aaron Carpenter (Brantford Harelquins, Brantford, ON), Jamie Cudmore (Clermont Auvergne, Squamish, BC), Nanyak Dala (Castaway Wanderers/Saskatoon, SK), Sean Duke (University of Victoria, Victoria, BC), Matt Evans (Hartpury College-UK/Cowichan, BC), Ed Fairhurst (Cornish Pirates/Victoria, BC), Scott Franklin (Cornish Pirates/Regina, SK), Ciaran Hearn (Castaway Wanderers/Conception Bay, NFLD), Tyler Hotson (UBC Old Boy Ravens/Vancouver, BC), Bryn Keys (Velox Vallhallians/Abbotsford, BC), Adam Kleeberger (University of Victoria/White Rock, BC), Phil Mack (James Bay AA/Victoria, BC), Stan McKeen (Oxford University/Vancouver, BC), Justin Mensah-Coker (Plymouth Albion/Vancouver, BC), Ander Monro (Colorno, Italy), Chauncey O'Toole (University of Victoria/Frederiction, NB), Mike Pletch (Velox Valhallians/Lucan, ON), James Pritchard (Bedford Blues), Pat Riordan (University of Victoria/Burnaby, BC), Jebb Sinclair (Castaway Wanderers/Fredericton, NB), Ryan Smith (Calgary Irish/Caledon, ON), David Spicer (University of Victoria/Victoria, BC), Sean Michael Stephen (Plymouth Albion/Oakville, ON), Luke Tait (Stade Montois - France/Barrie, ON), Andrew Tiedemann (University of Victoria/St. Albert, AB), Kevin Tkachuk (Glasgow Warriors/Regina, SK), Dean van Camp (Velox Valhallians/Port Perry, ON), DTH van der Merwe (James Bay AA/Regina, SK), Frank Walsh (Vandals RFC/St. John's, NFLD), Doug Wooldridge (Cowichan RFC/Lindsay, ON).
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?