Crowley eyes two wins for Canada
Canada head coach Kieran Crowley has set his sights on a third place finish in their pool which would secure qualification for 2019's Rugby World Cup.
Grouped with Ireland, France, Italy and Romania, the Canadians enter on the back of a disappointing period having lost eight of their last nine internationals.
And ahead of their opener with the Irish, Crowley has laid out his expectations.
"A good World Cup for us will be qualifying for the next World Cup, so you have to finish third in your pool for that. We would consider that success," he said.
"You have got to win at least two games to be assured of that. We had the same sort of thing at our last World Cup and we won one and drew one, but we have hopes we can do it this time."
On their recent disappointing form, he added: "Results-wise we have been honest but haven't quite got across the line in a couple of games that we could have.
"We have improved though, and we have been playing some reasonable rugby. We just need to learn to take our opportunities and be a little more accurate in a lot of areas, such as ball security and game management."
Their Cardiff opener will see Canada take on the Six Nations holders and Crowley believes they are will be tough to beat.
"Ireland are likely to top the group. They are one of the favourites to be there at the business end of the tournament and they are European champions," he said.