Rugby Canada  – 20th ranked Canada looks to finish 2017 ARC with victory over 33rd seeded Brazil at Pacaembu Stadium in Sao Paolo; Watch Live on TSN GO and delayed on TSN 5

SAO PAOLO, BRAZIL – Brothers Brett and Matt Beukeboom will make their first test start together in Friday’s Americas Rugby Championship finale against Brazil. There will also be a test debut for Brantford, Ont., native Rory McDonell on the wing as Canada looks to conclude its ARC campaign with a victory over 33rd world ranked Brazil.

“It’s going to be amazing experience,” Matt said. “We’ve never actually played on the same team before. I remember watching Brett and thinking there was no way I was going to be able to play at that level so I’m just excited to see what Friday brings.”

The Beukeboom’s become the first set of Canadian brothers to start in the same test match since Jamie and Phil Mackenzie in Canada’s 2015 Rugby World Cup match against Italy on Sept. 26.

“It’ll be an exciting time for our family,” Brett said. “There’s always aunts, uncles, mums and dads who love bragging about us back home so I’m sure they’ll all be watching Friday night.”

Rob Brouwer and Matt Tierney will line-up either side of Eric Howard in the front row who makes his first test start after his previous eight test caps came as a replacement. Brett Beukeboom has a new partner at lock in Liam Chisholm while Matt Beukeboom replaces Clay Panga at openside flanker with Lucas Rumball and blindside and Admir Cejvanovic at No. 8.

Gordon McRorie will captain Canada from scrum-half with Gradyn Bowd replacing Robbie Povey at fly-half. McDonell is joined by Dan Moor on the wing with Nick Blevins and Conor Trainor in the centres. Guiseppe du Toit starts at fullback in place of Brock Staller.

Canada is coming off of a 17-13 defeat to Uruguay last Saturday. Canada lost it’s ARC opener 20-6 to Argentina before beating Chile 36-15. They lost 51-34 to the USA in a high-scoring affair in Burnaby, BC, in round 3.

Canada is 1-0 all-time against Brazil as their first and only meeting came last year in the 2016 ARC. Canada got tries from Panga (2), Rumball (2), Ray Barkwill, Paul Ciulini and Mike Hamson in a 52-25 win in Langford, BC.

Friday’s game can be seen LIVE on TSN GO with a replay being shown on TSN 5 on March 5 at 12pm ET/9am PT.

Canada Team to face Brazil (Name, club, hometown):

1. Rob Brouwer – (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON

2. Eric Howard – (Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Blues) Ottawa, ON

3. Matt Tierney – (Section Paloise/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON

4. Brett Beukeboom – (Cornish Pirates) Lindsay, ON

5. Liam Chisholm – (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Kenora, ON

6. Matt Beukeboom – (Section Paloise) Lindsay, ON

7. Lucas Rumball – (Balmy Beach RFC/Ontario Blues) Scarborough, ON

8. Admir Cejvanovic – (Burnaby Lake RFC/BC Bears) Burnaby, BC

9. Gordon McRorie – Captain (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB

10. Gradyn Bowd – (UVIC Vikes/Prairie Wolf Pack) Red Deer, AB

11. Rory McDonell – (Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Blues) Brantford, ON

12. Nick Blevins – (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB

13. Conor Trainor – (RC Vannes/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC

14. Dan Moor – (Balmy Beach RFC/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON

15. Guiseppe Du Toit – (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Maple Ridge, BC

16. Ray Barkwill – (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON

17. Djustice Sears -Duru – (Glasgow Warriors/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON

18. Cole Keith – (James Bay AA/Atlantic Rock) Sussex, NB

19. Reegan O’Gorman – (Marist Albion) Vancouver, BC

20. Clay Panga – (Westshore RFC/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB

21. Phil Mack – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC

22. George Barton – (Clermont Espoirs) Duncan, BC

23. Brock Staller – (UBC Thunderbirds/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC

Canada’s 2017 Americas Rugby Championship Schedule:

Canada 6-20 Argentina — Feb. 4, Westhills Stadium, Langford, BC

Canada 36-15 Chile — Feb. 11, Westhills Stadium, Langford, BC

Canada 34-51 USA — Feb. 18, Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, BC

Uruguay 17-13 Canada — Feb. 25, Estadio Domingo Burgueno, Uruguay

Brazil vs. Canada — March 3, Pacaembu Stadium, Brazil

About Rugby Canada

Rugby Canada is the national governing body of the sport of rugby union in Canada.  Rugby Union has a long history in Canada dating back to its initial appearance in the 1860s.  Since 1974, Rugby Canada has been a permanent fixture on the global rugby scene, including trips to each of the eight Men’s Rugby World Cups and seven Women’s Rugby World Cups. As a regular on the Men’s and Women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, Canada continues to climb the world rankings and challenge the dominant rugby nations in both versions of the game.  Canada’s Women’s Rugby Sevens Team also made history in 2016, capturing the first-ever Bronze Medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Rugby Canada has also put a renewed emphasis on developing its junior programs to support the growth of rugby at the grass-roots level and to ensure there are elite programs for prospering young rugby players to become involved.  Our goal is to develop and train competitive teams for the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland, the 2018 Sevens World Cup in San Francisco, the 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan and 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

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Bryan Kelly  I  Manager, Communications and Media Relations  I  Rugby Canada  I  3024 Glen Lake Road  I Langford, British Columbia, Canada V9B 4B4  I  Tel. 250.418.8998 ext. 314  I  Fax 250.386.3810  I Cell. 250.216.5272 | bkelly@rugbycanada.ca I www.rugbycanada.ca