Kieran Crowley announces Canada’s 50-man provisional squad for 2011 Rugby World Cup
Canada national rugby union team’s head coach, Kieran Crowley, has announced his 50-man provisional squad for their upcoming 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) campaign.
Crowley’s provisional squad only includes eight professional players that ultimately will limit the chances of his side to reach the second round of the 2011 RWC. Besides this, the squad contains all Canadian players who have
recently participated in the 2011 Churchill Cup. Canada was the runner up of the 2011 Churchill Cup Final.
Commenting on the selection of the players, Crowley said, “We've picked the 50 best players that we can and the Canadian rugby Championship has played a big part in that. We've certainly used the Americas Rugby Championship trip to Argentina, the European
tour in November and the Churchill Cup to expose a lot of players, which allowed us to narrow it down to the group we have. It's been a long process.”
Crowley has given encouraging remarks for the young players who have been left out of the squad. He backed the strategy of playing and highlighting young players at the international level. He believes this approach will help them to not only gain experience
but will also help them develop their skills.
Crowley has named the 31-year-old British Columbia hooker, Pat Riordan, as captain of the Canada during their 2011 RWC campaign. Commenting on Pat’s appointment as captain he said, “Pat's been captain ever since I've been here. He has the values I'm looking
for in a player. He works hard on and off the field; he knows the game and creates a very positive team environment.”
Canada’s 50-man provisional 2011 RWC squad includes,
Forwards: Tyler Ardron (Ontario Blues), Brett Beukeboom (Ontario Blues), Hubert Buydens (Prairie Wolf Pack), Aaron Carpenter (Plymouth Albion), Jamie Cudmore (Clermont Auvergne), Nanyak Dala (Prairie Wolf Pack), Tom Dolezel (Ontario Blues),
Brian Erichsen (B.C. Bears), Scott Franklin (Prairie Wolf Pack), Adam Kleeburger (Unattached), Mitch Gudgeon (B.C. Bears), Ryan Hamilton (B.C. Bears), Tyler Hotson (Plymouth), Jeremy Kyne (Prairie Wolf Pack), Jason Marshall (B.C. Bears), Stan McKeen (Oxford
University), Sean Michael-Stephen (Plymouth Albion), John Moonlight (Ontario Blues), Chauncey O'Toole (The Rock), Kevin Parfrey (The Rock), Jon Phelan (The Rock), Mike Pletch (Ontario Blues), Pat Riordan (B.C. Bears), Jebb Sinclair (The Rock), Luke Tait (unattached),
Andrew Tiedemann (Prairie Wolf Pack), Frank Walsh (The Rock), Doug Wooldridge (Ontario Blues)
Backs: Kyle Armstrong (Ontario Blues), Nick Blevins (Prairie Wolf Pack), Connor Braid (B.C. Bears), Sean Duke (B.C. Bears), Matt Evans (Unattached), Ed Fairhurst (B.C. Bears), Jeff Hassler (Prairie Wolf Pack), Ciaran Hearn (The Rock), Nathan
Hirayama (B.C. Bears), Jamie Mackenzie (Esher), Phil Mackenzie (Esher), Justin Mensah-Coker (B.C. Bears), DTH van der Merwe (Glasgow Warriors), Ander Monro (Ontario Blues), Taylor Paris (Ontario Blues), James Pritchard (Bedford), Mike Scholz (Prairie Wolf
Pack), Ryan Smith (Prairie Wolf Pack), Conor Trainor (B.C. Bears), Sean White (B.C. Bears), Eric Wilson (B.C. Bears), Tyler Wish (The Rock).
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