Rugby Canada – Victoria’s Phil Mack scores lone try as Canada’s Men’s Team narrowly falls to Romania 21-16 in Bucharest; Canada ends November tour next Friday against Samoa in Grenoble, France

BUCHAREST, Romania — Canada’s men’s rugby team fell 21-16 to Romania in the second match of their November Tour Saturday in Bucharest.

Phil Mack scored Canada’s lone try while Gordon McRorie kicked three penalties and Connor Braid added one conversion. Romania’s Florin Vlaicu scored 16 of his side’s 21 points.

Canada started the better side, buoyed by Taylor Paris winning the opening kickoff before McRorie slotted Canada ahead just two minutes in with a penalty.

However, Romania came fighting back and should have had two tries if not for outstanding defensive work by DTH van der Merwe and Matt Evans. Yet they would find their first try on the third attempt as Vlaicu powered over a McRorie tackle to touch down before converting himself.

After Vlaicu and McRorie exchanged penalties, Canada thought they had their first try of the game as Conor Trainor collected a loose ball off a high kick but it was determind the ball had been knocked on by Paris’ shoudler.

Romania had their second try in the 24th minute as scrum-half Florin Surugiu chipped behind the Canadian back line and Ionut Dumitru was the beneficiary to push the le ad to 15-6 before Vlaicu’s penalty made it 18-6 at the break.

Canada came roaring out of the gates in the second half and despite an endless wave of phases inside the Romanian 22, they couldn’t find a try. Vlaicu pushed Romania’s lead to 21-6 before McRorie grabbed his third penalty of the night. 

Mack would touch down for Canada in the 74th minute after Connor Braid was stopped just short of the try line but Canada couldn’t muster any more offence as they narrowly lost to Romania for the third time in as many years. Canada concludes its November Tour Friday against Samoa. Kickoff is 3pm ET/12pm PT with broadcast details to be confirmed.

Canada’s Roster vs. Romania (Name, club, hometown):

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

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

3. Jake Ilnicki – (Manawatu Turbos/BC Bears) Williams Lake, BC

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

5. Evan Olmstead – (Newcastle Falcons/Prairie Wolf Pack) Vancouver, BC

6. Kyle Baillie – (Westshore RFC/Atlantic Rock) Summerside, PEI

7. Matt Heaton – (Darlington Mowden Park/Atlantic Rock) Godmanchester, QC

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

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

10. Connor Braid – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC

11. Taylor Paris – (Agen) Barrie, ON

12. Ben Lesage – (UBC Thunderbirds/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB

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

14. DTH van der Merwe – Captain (Scarlets) Victoria, BC 

15. Matt Evans – (Cornish Pirates) Maple Bay, BC

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

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

18. Ryan Kotlewski – (Westshore RFC/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB

19. Conor Keys – (UVIC Vikes/Atlantic Rock) Stittsville, ON

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

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

22. Pat Parfrey – (James Bay AA/Atlantic Rock) St. John’s, NL

23. Ciaran Hearn – (London Irish) Conception Bay, NL

Unavailable for selection:

Tyler Ardron – (Ospreys) Lakefield, ON

Hubert Buydens – (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saskatoon, SK

Aaron Carpenter – (London Welsh/Ontario Blues) Brantford, ON

Jamie Cudmore – (Oyonnax) Squamish, BC

Nanyak Dala – (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saskatoon, SK

Kyle Gilmour – (St. Albert RFC/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB

Jeff Hassler – (Ospreys) Okotoks, AB

Jamie Mackenzie – (UBCOB Ravens/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON

Phil Mackenzie – (Unattached/Ontario Blues), Oakville, ON

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

Cam Pierce – (Section Paloise/Kelowna Crows) Vernon, BC

Jebb Sinclair – (London Irish/Atlantic Rock) Fredericton, NB

Andrew Tiedemann – (Bourgoin/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB

Jordan Wilson-Ross – (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Alliston, ON

Men’s Coaching Staff: 

Mark Anscombe – Head Coach

Graeme Moffat – Assistant Coach

Mike Shelley – Scrum Coach

Aaron Takel – Performance Analyst

Michael Deasy – Strength and Conditioning

Mallory White – Physiotherapist

Jessica Smith – Physiotherapist

Dr. Peet Du Toit – Doctor

Mark Winokur – Tour Manager

Alana Gattinger – Operations & Logistics Manager

Canada’s November Tour Schedule:

Canada 21-52 Ireland — Nov. 12 

Canada 16-21 Romania — Nov. 19 

Canada vs. Samoa — Nov. 25 —Stade des Alpes, Grenoble — 3pm ET/12pm PT

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. 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.

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 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. 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/RugbyCanada

Facebook: www.facebook.com/RugbyCanada

YouTube: www.youtube.com/RugbyCanada

Instagram: www.instagram.com/RugbyCanada  

Website: www.rugbycanada.ca 

-30-

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