News

TBILISI, Georgia - Canada has beaten Russia 49-24 in Tbilisi, Georgia to claim 5th spot at the Junior World Rugby Trophy on Sunday.

Alberta's Jeff Hassler continued to be the form player for Canada - scoring three tries on the day and seven for the tournament.

Canadian team Head Coach Mike Shelley said his team played exactly like they had planned  - capitalizing on some predicted Russian strategy and turning that into points.

"We had seen (Russia) play and that they like to throw the ball around," he explained. "The one thing we stressed is to put pressure on them because they throw really long passes and if we get up on them quickly they would make mistakes.

"In the second half we decided the wind wasn't that strong, we  knew they would make mistakes and that we would play in their half.

"Both halves we did well and we did exactly what we needed to do."

Team Captain Tyler Ardron concurred.

"We tried to keep it pretty tight for most of it," said the Lakefield, Ontario native. "We earned putting it wide by keeping it tight at first.

"I think we matched up really well (with the Russians physically)  - tackles behind the gainline - and we were driving through and beating some tackles to get over (the tryline)."

Despite the early success in the first half - he made sure that his team mates stayed on task and did not lose focus.

"I just brought everybody in after we scored and just made sure we kept going after them," Ardron said. "We couldn't stop what we were doing because clearly it was working."

Canada's scoring started in the second minute with an intercept by fly-half - Cowichan, B.C.'s Carlin Hamstra, who read a long Russian pass and went untouched under the posts from twenty five metres.

Tyler Ardron then crossed over a two minutes later - and it appeared the rout was on with Canada leading 14-0 after just three minutes.

Russia responded with a try in the sixth minute but second row Cameron Pierce (Kelowna) touched down for his second score of the tournament to increase the Canadian lead to 21-7 after twenty minutes.

In the 27th minute scrum-half Lucien Nel  found himself weaving through Russian defenders - before offloading to a trailing Hamstra - who scored his second of the first half - and Canada led by 26-7.

Hassler then scored at the half hour mark, powering through on a strong finishing run - Canada 31- Russia 7.

Liam Underwood (Toronto)  hit a penalty kick from twenty five metres giving Canada a 34-7 buffer with 36 minutes gone.

Hassler (Okotoks, Alberta) worked his away across for his second of the half and with the extras from Underwood it appeared it was going to be a very long day for the Russians with the half time score reading 41-7.

Full credit to a Russia as it appeared the interval allowed for some re-setting and composure - with a try within a couple of minutes of the restart giving some hope to their cause. Russia 12 - Canada 41.

Underwood pushed the Canadian score upward once more with a penalty kick from 35 metres - Canada 44 - Russia 12.

Russia scored another try through some deft running and off-loads, but in the 61st minute Hassler saw the ball right on the Russia tryline - getting and hand on it an instant before it was kicked away by a Russian foot  - and he had notched Canada's 7th try of the match.

Russia then got into sin-bin trouble with USA referee Tim Liscomb - as two yellow cards within five minutes saw Canada up to 15 on 13. The first was for interference on Tyler Ardron who was trying to get the ball for a quick restart - and was tackled - knocking the big forward into the referee. Canada's Brandon Tennant, however, was then shown the gate for ten minutes for some cynical play at the breakdown - but Canada could not convert the advantage into points in the final ten minutes.

In fact it was Russia, still short handed by one, that saw their hooker Stanislav Sel'skiy decrease the deficit to 49-24 with only a few minutes left on the clock.

That would be the final points of the match - Canada finishing the tournament with a 2-2 record - and fifth place finish - an improvement on the 2010 tournament - that saw a lone Canada win.

The Canadian U20 men's team is supported in part by the funding efforts of the Canadian Rugby Foundation. If you would like to help support young rugby players in their development consider donating to the CRF - visit www.canadianrugbyfoundation.ca .

Canada Scoring:
Tries: Carlin Hamstra 2, Tyler Ardron, Cameron Pierce, Jeff Hassler 3
Conversions: Liam Underwood 3, Carlin Hamstra
Penalties: Liam Underwood 2,

Canada team vs Russia (BC players in bold)
1. Scott Macleod - Cowichan RFC  (Cowichan, BC)
2. Andrew Cho - Calgary Saracens RFC /University of Calgary (Calgary, AB)
3. Brandon Tennant - Montreal Irish, (Montreal, PQ)
4. Scott MacDonald - Oshawa Vikings RFC (Oshawa, ON)
5. Cameron Pierce - Kelowna Crows / University of Victoria  (Kelowna, BC)
6. Evan Olmstead - Capilano RFC (West Vancouver, BC)
7. Matt Kelly - Toronto Scottish RFC  / Queen's University (Toronto, ON)
8. Tyler Ardron - Brantford RFC / McMaster University (Brantford, ON)
9.  Lucien Nel - Cowichan RFC / University of Victoria (Cowichan, BC)
10. Carlin Hamstra - Cowichan RFC / University of British Columbia (Cowichan, BC)
11. Jeff Hassler - Foothills Lions RFC /University of Saskatchewan (Calgary, AB)
12. Patrick Parfrey - Swilers RFC / Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John's, NFLD)
13. Michael Fuailefau - Castaway Wanderers RFC / University of Victoria (Victoria, BC)
14. Kurtis Appeldoorn - Abbotsford RFC / University of Fraser Valley  (Abbottsford, BC)
15. Liam Underwood Balmy Beach RFC / Queen's University (Toronto, ON)

Replacements
16. Casey Cavers - Cowichan  RFC / University of Victoria (Cowichan, BC) for Cho (63 mins)
17. Jordan Power - Dogs RFC / Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John's, NFLD) for Pierce (73 mins) - Pierce returns for Power 79th min Blood
18. John Humphries Castaway Wanderers / Western University (Victoria, BC) for MacDonald (41 mins)
19. Cameron Stones Ajax Wanderers RFC / McMaster University (Ajax, ON) for Olmstead (69 mins)
20. Dustin Dobravsky - Shawnigan Lake School /University of Victoria (Regina, SK) for Kelly (75 mins)
21. Andrew Ferguson - Oakville Crusaders RFC /McMaster University (Oakville, ON) for Nel (75 mins)
22. Dylan Mundy Oshawa Vikings RFC / Brock University (Oshawa, ON) for Underwood (48 min)

Staff
Coach Mike Shelley
Manager Des Lynch
Graeme Moffat. Assistant coach
Andy Evans. S & C coach/ Video Analyst
Mike Cook. Therapist
Alastair Poulson. Team Doctor