Coming up from their late summer, Chile may have been feeling a bit chilly on Friday night at Westhills Stadium in Langford. The Chileans certainly found the reception on the pitch less than chill, as they say in the modern vernacular.
It didn’t take long for Canada to warm up, however.
The Canadians built a 17-0 lead by nine minutes and 24-0 at 17 minutes en route to a 56-0 victory over Chile in an Americas Rugby Championship Test match.
Canada, which led 31-0 at halftime, is 1-2 and Chile 0-3 in the Americas Rugby Championship. The result took a bit of the hurt out of the recent tight Canadian road losses in ARC to Uruguay on the last play of the game in Montevideo and 18-10 upset by Brazil in Sao Paulo.
Those were certainly letdowns for Canada, which is thinking it perhaps should be 3-0 in the tournament ahead of its two most difficult games upcoming against Argentina XV and the U.S. Eagles.
“It does take some of the sting away from the first two games of the tournament,” Canadian captain Lucas Rumball said.
“It was a good performance. We were more accurate tonight. And the crowd was electric and got the boys fired up.”
Ciaran Hearn had five converts, three from acute angles at the sideline, and a penalty goal for 13 points. Newfoundlander Hearn, who came out of club play at Windsor Park in Oak Bay and a tremendous career with Castaway Wanderers, moved into a tie for No. 3 on the all-time Canadian list with former Victoria great Winston Stanley at career 66 caps. Only Al Charron with 76 and Aaron Carpenter with 80 have more caps for Canada.
Canada came into the ARC after the high of beating Kenya, Germany and Hong Kong to win the last-chance qualifier at Marseille, France, in November and earn the 20th and final berth into the 2019 World Cup this fall in Japan.
Canadian coach Kingsley Jones said he wanted players “to put their hand up for World Cup selection.”
Winger Kainoa Lloyd did just that Friday with three tries for Canada.
“It was a good team effort tonight and the team finally came together with cohesion,” said Lloyd, who graduated from Queen’s University, to sign a pro contract with the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby.
“We were composed and executed well.”
Especially on offence in finding the wingers like Lloyd, who darted to corners for seven Canadian tries, which were converted with precision by Hearn.
Andrew Coe scored two tries for Canada and Kyle Baillie and Pat Parfrey one each. World Cup veteran Gordon McRorie subbed in for Hearn and kicked a convert and two penalty goals.
Chile, which did not qualify for the 2019 World Cup, is ranked No. 29. Canada, which is ranked No. 21, is 6-0 all-time against Chile.
Canada closes out the home portion of the ARC next Friday at Westhills Stadium against Argentina XV.
Rugby Canada has had to contend with not only the stadium construction — to get the Langford facility ready for future rugby Tests and also Pacific FC of the pro soccer Canadian Premier League — but also a layer of remaining snow that had to be ploughed off the Westhills Stadium pitch this week.
“We were a little concerned beforehand because of the snow but the field conditions tonight were great,” said Lloyd, who also played for James Bay.
Because of the construction, only the old main grandstand is available for the ARC matches. The grandstand, seating just over 1,000, was full on Friday.
“It was sweet to be playing on Canadian soil again,” said Lloyd.
Canada closes out the ARC against the U.S. on March 8 in Seattle. That’s a grudge match in the wake of the U.S. drubbing of Canada in the direct North American qualifier for the 2019 World Cup in 2017 at San Diego.
