Canada national under-20 rugby union team

The Canada under 20 rugby team is the junior national rugby union team from Canada. It replaced the two former age grade teams, the under 19s and under 21s, in 2008. The team competed at the IRB Junior World Championship in 2008 and 2009 but were relegated to the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy for 2010. The team has yet to make their way back to the top competition.

Canada U-20

Union	Rugby Canada
Coach(es)	Christiaan Esterhuizen
Team kit Change kit
First international
Australia 81 – 12 Canada (6 June 2008)
Largest win
Canada 71 – 14 Romania (9 September 2018)
Largest defeat
Australia 86 – 0 Canada (5 June 2009)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (First in 2008)
Best result	12th, 2008

History

2008 and 2009 IRB Junior World Championships

In June 2008 Canada participated in the 2008 IRB Junior World Championships held in Wales. The team competed in Pool C with all of their pool games being played at Rodney Parade in Newport. Canada lost their matches to Australia 81–12 and to England 60–18 but were able to earn a 17–10 win against Fiji which placed them 3rd in their pool. Canada would go on to lose their next two games to Scotland 15–10 and to Italy 33–10. The team ended the tournament in 12th place.

The following year Canada competed in the 2009 IRB Junior World Championships hosted by Japan. Canada began pool play with an 86–0 loss to Australia. The team went on to lose their next two pool play matches to Wales 51–15 and to Tonga 36–20. Canada then went into the play off stages and beat Uruguay 29–11 but suffered a 32–22 loss in their final match. Canada's final position was 14th and therefore the team was relegated to the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy for 2010.

2010 and 2011 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy

Canada went into the 2010 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy as one of the favourites to play in the final. However, Canada suffered a 17–15 loss to Russia and another loss to Japan, 38–17. Canada's only win came from a 22–6 defeat of Zimbabwe placing them 3rd in Pool B. The team eventually lost in a dramatic 5th place final 13–11 to Uruguay giving Canada the final position of 6th.

On May 24, 2011, under new head coach Mike Shelley, Canada took on the 2011 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy hosts Georgia to begin pool play. The Canadians were outmatched by the formidable Georgians and lost their opening match 38–9. Canada played their next game four days later against a Japanese team who had previously defeated Zimbabwe four days earlier. The Canadians showed improvement upping their offensive production to 15 points. However, The Japanese proved to be too much for Canada winning the match 30 points to 15. Canada then played their final pool match versus Zimbabwe on June 1, 2011. Canada defeated Zimbabwe 49-23 to record their first Pool B win. Canada would go on to defeat Russia 49–24 in the 5th-place playoff, improving their ranking one spot from last year.

2012 Junior World Rugby Trophy

Prior to the 2012 Junior World Rugby Trophy, Rugby Canada announced an unprecedented series of matches against fellow under-20 national squads from Romania and the United States.

March 2012 saw Canada match up against a formidable Romanian side for two matches the first being played at Shawnigan Lake School. The Romanians had just missed qualification for the 2012 Junior World Rugby Trophy by placing third behind Georgia and Russia in the European qualifiers and so had much to prove. Romania came out firing with physical play, out-muscling the Canadians in the forwards and secured a 30–22 victory. The Canadians and Romanians came together on 10 March for a rematch, and again the Romanian forward pack proved dominant over the Canadians. Romania completed the sweep with a 23–6 defeat over an outworked Canadian squad.

Canada then met traditional rivals U.S.A. on 23 May 2012 at Shawnigan Lake School for the first of a two-match series. Both squads contained players still vying for spots on their respective nation's final roster for the 2012 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy. The game proved to be a back-and-forth affair as the Canadians and Americans traded scores. At the end of the first half, the Canadians led the Junior All-Americans by a score of 15–8. Early substitutions at the beginning of the second half proved fruitful for the United States as they scored off a quick tap from an American front row reserve. Quickly after the United States struck again off a counter-attack, taking an important 20–15 lead. Canada would hit back soon after with a try from replacement centre Michael Fuailefau which was well converted by Conor McCann; however, the Americans would find time to score one more try, finishing the match with a 27–22 victory. The teams would meet three days later. Canada would come out with 21 unanswered points before the United States completed the comeback and picked up a 34–28 win.

Canada would play one more preparation game against a touring university side from Scotland, St. Andrews University. The Scottish university side proved to be a mismatch with the Canadian under-20s coming out 118-0 winners. Canada's preparation would conclude with a 1–4 record.

Canada's pre-tournament matches would prove prophetic as Canada struggled throughout, losing their first game 31–17 at the hands of a very physical Georgia side. Four days later, on 22 June 2012, the young Canadians would once again go down in defeat, this time losing to a rising Japan team, 38–35. Canada would end pool play on a positive note, picking up a 66–45 win in a high-scoring affair against Zimbabwe. The fifth-place decider saw the Canadian team face a spirited Chile side. Once again the Canadian defense was lacking, and the Chileans would take a 20-point lead in the second half of the match. Canada came back with a series of tries but ultimately came up short, the game finishing 43–31 in the Chileans' favour. With the loss to Chile, Canada finished 6th in the tournament. Taylor Paris would finish the tournament with 5 tries, the second most in the tournament.

2013–2015 Junior World Rugby Trophy

During this period, the Canadian junior team saw highs and lows which included two second-place finishes in the 2013 and 2015 Junior World Rugby Trophies and a dismal seventh-place finish in the 2014 edition of the tournament. Canada would go a perfect 3–0 in pool play in 2013, beating out formidable opponents in Tonga, Japan, and Uruguay. The team would eventually fall heavily, 45–23, in the final to a very strong Italian side. This second-place finish, however, would be Canada's best result in the second-tier tournament.

Unable to match their successes of the 2014 tournament, the 2014 Junior World Rugby Trophy saw Canada finish with two losses and a tie against Uruguay. They finished the tournament on a high note, defeating hosts Hong Kong 33–30 to finish seventh overall. Following the tournament Mike Shelley was relieved of his head coaching duties of the Canada U20 team.

With a brand-new head coach in former Canadian national player, Jeff Williams, Canada seemed revitalized, going through pool play of the 2015 tournament with a 3–0 record, knocking off Namibia, Hong Kong, and a close win against Tonga. However, Canada would yet again miss out on promotion to the Junior World Rugby Championship as the team were unable to get by a powerful Georgian side. Canada lost the final match 49–24.

Results and statistics

Junior World Championship/Trophy

Year	Competition	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Pts	Pool place	Playoffs	Final position
2024	Did not qualify
2023	Did not qualify
2022	Cancelled
2021	Cancelled
2020	Cancelled
2019	Trophy	3	1	0	2	124	101	+23	3	7	3rd	(5th Final) Beat Kenya 52 – 13	5th
2018	Trophy	3	0	0	3	78	111	-33	2	1	4th	(7th Final) Beat Romania 71 – 14	7th
2017	Trophy	3	0	0	3	56	126	-70	1	1	4th	(7th Final) Beat Hong Kong 38 – 0	7th
2016	Did not qualify
2015	Trophy	3	3	0	0	72	46	26	1	13	1st	(Final) Lost to Georgia 49 – 24	2nd
2014	Trophy	3	0	1	2	55	92	-37	0	2	4th	(7th Final) Beat Hong Kong 33 – 30	7th
2013	Trophy	3	3	0	0	99	36	63	2	14	1st	(Final) Lost to Italy 45 – 23	2nd
2012	Trophy	3	1	0	2	118	114	4	3	7	3rd	(5th Final) Lost to Chile 43 - 31	6th
2011	Trophy	3	1	0	2	73	91	−18	1	5	3rd	(5th Final) Beat Russia 49 - 24	5th
2010	Trophy	3	1	0	2	54	61	−7	1	5	3rd	(5th Final) Lost to Uruguay 13 – 11	6th
2009	Championship	3	0	0	3	35	173	−138	0	0	4th	(13th–16th Semifinals) Beat Uruguay 29 – 11 (13th Final) Lost to Italy 32 – 22	14th
2008	Championship	3	1	0	2	47	151	−104	0	4	3rd	(9th–12th Semifinals) Lost to Scotland 15 – 10 (11th Final) Lost to Italy 33 – 10	12th
Total inc. playoffs	-	46	17	1	28	1091	1354	-263	14	59	-	-	-

Overall

Canadian U-20 rugby record against other U-20 national teams.

• Updated as of 21 July 2019

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Australia	2	0	2	0	0.00%	12	167	-155
Chile	2	0	2	0	0.00%	59	88	-29
England	1	0	1	0	0.00%	18	60	-42
Fiji	1	1	1	0	50.00%	43	63	-20
Georgia	3	0	3	0	0.00%	50	118	-68
Hong Kong	4	4	0	0	100.00%	173	71	+102
Italy	3	0	3	0	0.00%	55	110	-55
Japan	6	1	5	0	16.67%	130	208	-78
Kenya	1	1	0	0	100.00%	52	13	+39
Namibia	3	1	2	0	33.33%	76	88	-12
Portugal	3	0	3	0	0.00%	65	117	-52
Romania	2	1	2	0	33.33%	99	67	+32
Russia	2	1	1	0	50.00%	64	41	+23
Scotland	1	0	1	0	0.00%	10	15	-5
Tonga	4	2	2	0	50%	82	79	+3
United States	13	8	5	0	61.53%	411	283	+128
Uruguay	5	2	2	1	50.00%	117	84	+33
Wales	1	0	1	0	0.00%	15	51	-36
Zimbabwe	3	3	0	0	100.00%	137	74	+63
Total	60	25	36	1	42.50%	1668	1797	-129

Personnel

Current squad

See also: List of Canadian national under-20 rugby team rosters

Canada's squad for the 2024 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy North American Qualifier two-match series in Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia and Langford, British Columbia.

Christiaan Esterhuizen (Bloemfontein, RSA) - Head Coach

• Assistant Coaches: Hubert Buydens, Cory Hector, and Paddy Watson
• Additional Coaches: Stephen Aboud, Phil Mack, John McFarland, and Kingsley Jones

Backs Player Position Club Brady Howlett Scrum-half Trinity Western University Jesse Kilgour Scrum-half Pacific Pride Patrick Kirwan Scrum-half Pacific Pride Matt Bennett Fly-half University of Victoria Ty Driscoll Fly-half Pacific Pride Jimmy Leach Centre Brunel University Lockhart MacGregor Centre University of Victoria Marco Mitchell Centre University of British Columbia Liam Turnbull Centre St. George's School Spencer Cotie Wing University of Victoria Morgan Di Nardo Wing University of Victoria Thomas Wells-Richards Wing University of Waterloo Ben Greenstein Full-back Queen's University Caleb Seumanutafa Full-back University of British Columbia

Forwards Player Position Club Riku Konrad Hooker UBCOB Ravens Noah Kynaston Hooker Pacific Pride Jeffrey Young Hooker Bedwas RFC Angus Dewar Prop Queen's University Brighton Feldman Prop University of Victoria Finlay Kennedy Prop Bournemouth RFC Thorson Noble Prop University of British Columbia Dylan Shaw Prop University of Guelph Justin Tasse Prop Westshore RFC Charles Trollip Prop University of Guelph Ryan Cozens Lock Cardiff Met University Daragh Doyle Lock Clontarf RFC Brodie Lowry Lock Royal Military College of Canada Eric Vann Lock University of Toronto Austin Allen Back row Trent University Presley Bosa Back row University of Western Ontario Kyle Finan Back row Trinity Western University Jaxson Jones Back row University of Victoria Liam Kinghorn Back row University of British Columbia Grant Meadows Back row Brock University Garin Schroeder Back row University of Western Ontario Olly Wiseman (C) Back row Cardiff Met University

Former head coaches

• Tim Murdy (2008–10)
• Mike Shelley (2011–14)
• Jeff Williams (2015-21)
• Adam Roberts (2022-23)

Notable former players

• Tyler Ardron (2010–11)
• Connor Braid (2009–10)
• Tyler Duguid (2018–19)
• Matt Evans (2008)
• Jeff Hassler (2010–11)
• Quinn Ngawati (2019)
• Shane O'Leary (2013)
• Evan Olmstead (2011)
• Taylor Paris (2012)
• Will Percillier (2017–19)
• Cameron Pierce (2011)
• Djustice Sears-Duru (2013-14)
• Cam Stones (2011-12)
• Brandon Tennant (2011)
• Matt Tierney (2015-16)
• Nicholas Wallace (2009)

Kit

2015-16 1st Kit

2015-16 2nd Kit

2015-16 3rd Kit

2017 1st Kit

2017 2nd Kit

External links

• Rugby Canada's Home Page