Coming off of a 30 – 22 loss against Romania at Shawnigan Lake School on Wednesday, the U20 Men look to come back strong in a rematch of the two teams on Saturday at Bear Mountain Stadium in Langford, BC.

Coming into the match, the Canadian squad has readjusted their line up and will see a few new faces suiting up.

Canada’s National U20 men’s coach Mike Shelley is confident that his team has made the proper adjustments in preparation for their second test match against the Romanians.

“You always have to be aware of not only who you put on the field but also who is on the field against you. Having the opportunity to see Romania first hand [on Wednesday] told us exactly what we will need to do on the field,” said Shelley.

The Canadians are tasked with facing a large and strong Romanian team, who play a very tough European style of rugby. Shelley has not only made changes to the squad but also looks to adjust the game plan for Saturday. Players and coaches have both been working extremely hard to prepare for the upcoming match.

“We had a recovery session in the morning and a video session in the afternoon,” Shelley explained. “The corrective work identified on the video was accomplished by the team during the session, and now we want to go into the game with this information in our minds.”

In anticipation of Saturday’s game the U20 men’s team and coaching staff will be spending Friday analyzing the Romanian squad in great detail.

“We gave up possession a lot and we weren’t accurate with our set plays,” said Shelley. “Our main goal is to move forward and gain as much as we can from that experience, work with the players and come out as best we can on Saturday.”

After making some changes to the roster coach Shelley has high expectations for his team.

“We have made slight changes to the shape and structure of the team and I’m confident that we will be able to bounce back."

The new players entering the line-up will be Kurt Gibbons, Fuku Vikilani, Lucien Nel and Michael Feualifau.

One of the players who will not be suiting up for the squad this time around is Taylor Paris. With the upcoming Hong Kong Sevens tournament approaching, Paris will switch his focus from the U20 team to the 7s team as they leave for Hong Kong next week.

Canada and Romania meet for game two at Bear Mountain Stadium in Langford, BC on Saturday, March 10, 2012, 7pm kick off.

Tickets for all games at Bear Mountain Stadium will be available from our ticket hotline (905) 780 8998 ext 245.

Ticket Information
Youth (under 12): $5.00 each
Student (12 – 18): $10.00 each
Adult (19+): $15.00 each

National U20 Men’s Squad

PLAYER NAME/ CLUB/CITY/ PROVINCE

Noah Barker - Rowing Club (Courtany, BC)
Casey Reed - UVIC Vikes (Airdrie, AB)
Kurt Gibbons – Markham Irish (Markham, ON)
Geoff Warburton – Ajax Wanderers (Pickering, ON)
Lukas Balkovec – UVIC Vikes (Kitchener, ON)
Fuku Vikilani- Burnaby Lake Rugby Club (Vancouver, BC)
Chase Kelliher – Uvic Vikes (Vancouver, BC)
Cameron Stones – Ajax Wanderers (Whitby, ON)
Lucien Nel –UVIC Vikes (Prince George, BC)
Patrick Kay – UVIC Vikes (Duncan, BC)
Luc Pearson – Lindsay RFC (Victoria, BC)
Clayton Meeres – Abbotsford RFC (Chilliwack, BC)
Michael Feualifau – UVIC Vikes (Victoria, BC)
Jon West – Markham Irish RFC (Scarborough, ON)
Lucas Hoppe – Lindsey RFC (Omemee, ON)
Eric Selvaggi – Aurora Barbarians (Woodridge, ON)
Jake Ilnicki – UVIC Vikes (Williams Lake, BC)
Jacob Rumball – Balmy Beach (Toronto, ON)
Andrew Ferguson – Oakville Crusaders (Mississauga, ON)
Graydyn Bowd – Vancouver Rowing Club, Red Deer Titans (Red Deer, AB)
Tomas Costanzo – ST-ANN (Montreal, QC)