Canada take on Jamica in a men’s senior international at Lamport Stadium in Toronto tomorrow (Saturday) for world ranking points (kick off 5pm, local time), the first clash between the nations on Canadian soil since 2014.
Canada men’s head coach Aaron Zimmerle’s team is primarily drawn from the domestic competition, with eight players coming from the British Columbia league and a similar number from Ontario.
Among the players selected are debutantes David Froome, Nathan Roberts and Mitch Talbot from ORL’s newest team and champions, Tavistock Pandas. Wolverines stalwarts Louis Robinson from London (UK)-based Wests Warriors - who made his Canada debut against the Reggae Warriors in the first international between the two countries in 2011 - is back alongside Adam Timler, who last played for his country in the Americas RLWC2017 qualifiers in Jacksonville in 2015.
Zimmerle said: “We have had a great week with the National Provincial Championship game here on Tuesday seeing Eastern Canada beat Western Canada 22-16, followed by the opportunity for me to have players from both teams come together in a national team camp in the three days leading up to the international.
“A solid foundation is set, players are bonding and building combinations really positively and we are looking forward to putting on a good performance in what should be a great game.
Jamaica’s Reggae Warriors are coming off the back of a 22-16 defeat in Wales on Tuesday and are looking for a first-ever away victory over Canada in five attempts.
The squad features nine players from the domestic championship, five from English leagues and four from the Ontario championship. Veterans Marvin Thompson, Lamont Bryan, Tyrone Rowe, and Aaron-Jones-Bishop are expected to lead the way, whilst new faces Kymani Green, Joshua Hill, Tremaine Thompson-Griffiths, Javian Bryan, Romario Bartley, Jimmy Morgan, Alpachino Mignott, and Ricardo Richards, are all looking to impress on debut.
JRLA director of rugby, Romeo Monteith, noted: “It’s never easy facing the Wolverines in Canada and we expect another tough game. We are looking to give eight players their first cap and we are eager to see how they will go. We hope this is the restart of regular games with Canada again in Toronto, it’s always a good experience playing in the city.”
The match will be streamed at Canada RL’s YouTube channel - https://m.youtube.com/@canadarugbyleague8251
CANADA SQUAD
Jason Chuck, Lee Keegel (Brampton Beavers), Charles Curran, Kyle Yurkiw (Brantford Broncos), Jacob Bourne, Ben Stothers (Point Grey Thunder) David Froome, Mitch Talbot, Jason Park, Nathan Roberts (Tavistock Trash Pandas), Daniel Martyn (Toronto City Saints), Scyler Dumas (Vancouver Dragons), Adam Timler, Colton Carpenter (Valley Warriors), Louis Robinson (West Warriors), Blake Mahovic, Josh Michalik (Whistler Wolves)
JAMAICA SQUAD
Kymani Green, Tremaine Thompson-Griffiths, Tyrone Rowe (Brampton) Leo Skerrett-Evans (Castleford Tigers) Adrian Thomas, Javian Bryan, Jenson Morris, Marvin Thompson, (Duhaney Park Red Sharks), Adrian Hall, Michael Pearson, Romario Bartley (Liguanea Dragons) Jimmy Morgan, Lamont Bryan (London Chargers) Aaron Jones-Bishop (Milford ARLFC) Orlando Jones (Toronto Saints) Alpachino Mignott (Washington Blvd. Bulls), Ricardo Richards (West Kingston Hyenas) Joshua Hill (Wigan St Judes)