They needed that. The players on the Canadian rugby team, most of them centralized in Langford, finally celebrated a Test victory Saturday with a 37-27 decision over Spain in Madrid.
It was Canada’s first win following a winless streak of nine consecutive Tests. Canada’s previous Test victory was a 36-15 win over Chile on Feb. 11 at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
“It’s great when the players get that feeling in the change room. You can’t beat that,” said head coach Kingsley Jones, who celebrated his first Test win as the Canadian bench boss.
“We didn’t want to put too much pressure on them, but it was critical to put some pressure on the boys to make them understand it’s about winning Tests.”
The Jones era began with a 51-9 loss Nov. 3 against the New Zealand Maori All Blacks at B.C. Place before a Canadian rugby record crowd of 29,480 and a 54-22 loss to No. 12 Georgia last week in Tbilisi.
“There are battered bodies in the change room. The players worked really hard,” said Jones, in his post-game news conference on Saturday.
“Our ball presentation at times was good and our attacking shape was excellent. Our front five were excellent.”
Going the other way, allowing 27 points was a concern.
“A lot of that came off our maul defence and we need some clarity on that,” noted Jones, a Welshman who took the Canadian job, after building the Russian national team to where it is now No. 18 in the world.
The likes of No. 20 Spain and also No. 22 Germany and Russia are countries Canada should be beating in rugby. So No. 23 Canada made a much-needed statement against Spain, a side it also defeated 60-22 in the only other meeting between the two nations in 2010.
Centres DTH van der Merwe of Victoria and Taylor Paris of Barrie, Ont., who both play professionally in Europe, accounted for four tries between them Saturday while Brock Staller of Surrey kicked for 17 points.
Flanker Aaron Carpenter earned his 80th cap to add to his total as Canada’s all-time Tests leader.
Veteran Ciaran Hearn, a pro with London Irish who turned in so many past great performances at Windsor Park in Oak Bay for the Castaway Wanderers, was singled out for special praise.
“You look out there and watch Ciaran Hearn passing, catching and kicking,” said an impressed Jones.
The November Test window ends for Canada next Saturday with a difficult assignment against No. 9 Fiji in Narbonne, France.
It is all in preparation for the Americas repechage, two-game, total-point Canada-Uruguay series Jan. 27 at B.C. Place and Feb. 3 in Montevideo, with the winner advancing to the 2019 World Cup in Japan. It is the first time that Canada, beaten badly by the U.S. Eagles over the summer, has failed to advance to the World Cup directly out of the North American qualifier. Losing to Uruguay would be considered a disaster in the Canadian rugby community.
“We need a really good performance against Fiji to stand us in good stead for the Uruguay games,” said Jones.
