Rugby Canada – 18 points off the boot of Gordon McRorie isn’t enough as 13th seeded Italy edges 17th ranked Canada 20-18 at BMO Field on Sunday afternoon in downtown Toronto

TORONTO, ONTARIO – Gordon McRorie kicked 18 points but Italy picked up a narrow 20-18 victory over Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team Sunday afternoon at BMO Field in the finale of their June International summer series.

Italy’s Tomasso Allan kicked 12 points while hooker Ornel Gega had the only try of the game in the 60th minute.
 
“I’m proud of a lot of the things this team has achieved,” head coach Mark Anscombe said. “We’ve got to understand where these guys are at and the how much rugby they’ve had.
 
“We’ll come away from this Summer Series wiser and knowing a lot of guys have stood up. The character and resilience of the team was excellent and they stayed in the fight right until the end.”
 
In what was a forward dominant game, with little space out wide, Italy’s Gega powered over the line to give the visitors a 17-15 lead after the only points previously had come from the boots of McRorie and Allan.
 
McRorie, who went 6-for-6 with the boot today after registering 26 points last weekend in Canada’s 46-21 win over Russia, kicked Canada ahead 18-17 in the 66th minute but after David Odiete’s try was waved off after a knock-on by Guglielmo Palazzani, Carlo Canna stepped up to kick the game-winning penalty in the 72nd minute. Canada had a late chance as Canna was sent to the sin bin with four minutes remaining but the hosts couldn’t get inside the Italian 22.
 
“It just shows you’ve only got one or two chances a game and you’ve got to take them and at crucial times we didn’t finish,” Anscombe said. “They took their opportunities and grinded out a win in the end.”
 
It’s the first time Canada has failed to score a try since its 2015 Pacific Nations Cup match against Japan. Canada came within a few feet of a try in the second half after a number of phases but after earning a penalty, Canada kicked for goal.
 
Ciaran Hearn became the 16th man to win 50 test caps for Canada but saw yellow in the 27th minute for a tip tackle with the game knotted at six. McRorie and Allan would convert once more before the break to have the scores level at 9-9 at the interval.
 
“We all know what the rule is,” Anscombe said of Hearn’s yellow card. “When you’ve got someone’s legs and they’re going up you know you’re going to be in trouble.”
 
The match against Italy ends Canada’s RISEAsOne Summer Series with a 1-2 record but having outscored their opponents 86-67. After a narrow 26-22 defeat to Japan in Vancouver 15 days ago — where Canada came within inches of scoring at the death — they rebounded for a comprehensive win over Russia last Saturday in Calgary.
 
“The crowds in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto this summer showed that rugby is alive and well in Canada,” Captain Jamie Cudmore said. “It shows we can really play with the best in the world and it’s a great advert for rugby in Canada moving forward.”
 
With more than 25 players making their test debuts for Canada in 2016 between the Americas Rugby Championship and the RISEAsOne Summer Series, there’s been a noted shift towards youth and depth in the last six months, ensuring the future of Canadian rugby remains strong.
 
“Looking at the crop of young players, the median age, there’s some great young talent coming though,” Cudmore said. “Against a fully professional side we ran them to two points. It’s a really young and exciting group.”

Canada’s Roster vs. Italy (Name, Club, Hometown):
 
1. Djustice Sears -Duru – (Glasgow Warriors/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
2. Ray Barkwill – (Sacramento/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON
3. Jake Ilnicki – (San Diego/BC Bears) Williams Lake, BC
4. Jamie Cudmore, Captain – (Oyonnax) Squamish, BC
5. Evan Olmstead – (Newcastle Falcons/Prairie Wolf Pack) Vancouver, BC
6. Kyle Baillie – (Ohio/Atlantic Rock) Summerside, PEI
7. Lucas Rumball – (Balmy Beach RFC/Ontario Blues) Scarborough, ON
8. Aaron Carpenter – (Cornish Pirates/Ontario Blues) Brantford, ON
9. Gordon McRorie – (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
10. Pat Parfrey – (Swilers RFC/Atlantic Rock) St. John’s, NL
11. Taylor Paris – (Agen) Barrie, ON
12. Nick Blevins – (San Francisco/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
13. Ciaran Hearn – (London Irish) Conception Bay, NL
14. Dan Moor – (Balmy Beach RFC/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON
15. Matt Evans – (Cornish Pirates) Maple Bay, BC
16. Eric Howard – (Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Blues) Ottawa, ON
17. Tom Dolezel – (London St. George’s/Ontario Blues) London, ON 
18. Matt Tierney – (Section Paloise/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
19. Paul Ciulini – (Aurora Barbarians/Ontario Blues) Vaughan, ON
20. Matt Heaton – (Darlington Mowden Park/Atlantic Rock) Godmanchester, QC
21. Jamie Mackenzie – (UBCOB Ravens/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
22. Liam Underwood – (Balmy Beach RFC/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON
23. Brock Staller – (UBC Thunderbirds/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
 
Unavailable for selection:
 
Tyler Ardron – (Ospreys) Lakefield, ON
Brett Beukeboom – (Cornish Pirates) Lindsay, ON
Gradyn Bowd – (UVIC Vikes/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
Kyle Gilmour – (St. Albert RFC/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
Jeff Hassler – (Ospreys) Okotoks, AB
Phil Mackenzie – (San Diego/Ontario Blues), Oakville, ON
Jason Marshall – (Agen/BC Bears) North Vancouver, BC
Callum Morrison – (UBCOB Ravens/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
Benoit Piffero – (Avenir Castaneén Rugby XV/Atlantic Rock) Montreal, QC
Jebb Sinclair – (London Irish/Atlantic Rock) Fredericton, NB
Brock Staller – (UBC Thunderbirds/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Andrew Tiedemann – (Bourgoin/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
DTH van der Merwe – (Scarlets) Victoria, BC
Doug Wooldridge – (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON 
 
Unavailable due to Rugby Sevens Olympic Repechage:
 
Nanyak Dala – (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saskatoon, SK
Ciaran Hearn – (London Irish/Atlantic Rock) Conception Bay South, NL
Nathan Hirayama – (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Harry Jones – (Capilano RFC/BC Bears) North Vancouver, BC
Phil Mack – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
John Moonlight – (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Pickering, ON
Conor Trainor – (UBCOB Ravens/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
 
Canada’s Senior Men’s Coaching Staff: 
 
Head Coach – Mark Anscombe
Assistant Coach – Graeme Moffat
Assistant Coach, Forwards – Michael Shelley
Technical Consultant (Auckland Blues) – Paul Feeney
Head Strength & Conditioning – Michael Deasy
Analyst – Aaron Takel
Physiotherapist – Mallory White
Athletic Therapist – Jessica Smith
Tour Manager – Jim Kazakoff
Operations & Logistics Manager – Alana Gattinger
 
Italy’s Roster vs. Canada:
 
1. Andrea Lovotti
2. Ornel Gega
3. Lorenzo Cittadini
4. Quintin Geldenhuys
5. Marco Fuser
6. Maxime Mata Mbanda’
7. Simone Favaro
8. Andries Van Schalkwyk
9. Edoardo Gori ©
10. Tommaso Allan
11. Giovanbattista Venditti
12. Tommaso Boni
13. Michele Campagnaro
14. Angelo Esposito
15. David Odiete
16. Tommaso D’apice
17. Sami Panico
18. Pietro Ceccarelli
19. Sebastian Negri Da Oleggio
20. Leonardo Sarto J.
21.Guglielmo Palazzani
22. Carlo Canna
23. Giulio Bisegni

Scoring Summary:

Canada:

Penalties: Gordon McRorie (6)

Italy

Tries: Ornel Gega
Penalties: Tomasso Allan (4), Carlo Canna

About Rugby Canada

Rugby Canada is the national governing  body  of  the  sport  of  rugby  union  in Canada.  Rugby Football 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.

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 with, Rugby Canada has put an emphasis on developing its junior programs.  Our goal is to develop and train competitive teams for the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Tokyo, Japan respectively, the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland, 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in USA and 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan. 

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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