Canada announce tour dates
Canada will wrap the 2010 season with a comprehensive European tour in November that will see four Tests in as many weeks.
Canada will wrap the 2010 season with a comprehensive European tour in November that will see four Tests in as many weeks.
Mixed into the tour will be two first-time Tests against Belgium and Spain, as well as matches against Portugal and Georgia.
“We felt this would be a good tour in terms of testing our domestic based players (against Belgium) and then incorporate our professional players during the next three tests,” said coach Kieran Crowley.
Canada are currently 2-1 in 2010, having dispatched Uruguay and France A at the Churchill Cup, before falling to the England Saxons in the tournament championship.
Canada will open against Belgium in Brussels on November 6. The following week the team travels to Madrid to play Spain on November 13. Canada will then play in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi against the perennial European powers for the first time on their home soil on November 20. The tour wraps with a trip southwest to Lisbon to play Portugal on November 27.
The first week of the tour in Belgium will be relying heavily on a contingent of domestic based players as Canada's professional players will not be released until the International Rugby Board (IRB) tour window opens the following week.
The match against the World Cup qualified Georgians will be a re-match from the 2009 Churchill Cup – when the two teams met for the first time – Canada coming away with a 42-10 win. Georgia has notched an 8-1-1 record between 2008 and the recent European championships in March 2010.
“This tour is an opportunity for players and for us to develop our team and the newer systems we have developed from the Churchill Cup, so it is all good,” added Crowley.
The full tour squad will be announced in October, following the Americas Rugby Championship tournament.
Canada tour dates and fixtures:
Nov 6: Canada vs Belgium – Brussels
Nov 13: Canada vs Spain – Madrid
Nov 20: Canada vs Georgia – Tbilisi
Nov 27: Canada vs Portugal – Lisbon