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Robbie Povey to start at fly half for Canada against Argentina XV

Feb 23, 2018 | 8:15 AM

JUJUY, Argentina — Robbie Povey starts at fly half Saturday when visiting Canada takes on Argentina XV in the Americas Rugby Championship.

The game at the Estadio 23 de Agosto is not considered an official test match because it is not against Argentina’s test squad.

The Canadian men, currently ranked 21st in the world, are coming off a 45-5 win over No. 27 Brazil last Saturday at Westhills Stadium in Langford, B.C. Prior to that, Canada lost 38-29 to No. 18 Uruguay and 29-10 to the 17th-ranked Americans.

Canada wraps up play March 3 away to No. 25 Chile.

The U.S. leads the tournament standings at 3-0-0 while the Argentina entry is second at 2-1-0. Canada stands fourth.

Dustin Dobravsky shifts from blindside flanker to No. 8 to replace Luke Campbell while Conor Keys fills in for lock Kyle Baillie who switches to flanker.

There are two changes in the back with Povey replacing Shane O’Leary at fly half and Brock Staller coming in on the wing for DTH van der Merwe. O’Leary had to return to Ireland on a family matter while van de Merwe is back with his club Newcastle Falcons.

It’s Povey’s first game for Canada since last year’s ARC when he played against the U.S. and Uruguay. Noah Barker could make his debut for Canada off the bench.

The English-born back is eligible to play for Canada though his Montreal-born mother. His father is a former Britain water polo international.

He played for Canada’s under-20 and A teams before making his senior debut in October 2016 at the Americas Pacific Challenge.

 

Canada

Djustice Sears-Duru, Ray Barkwill, Jake Ilnicki, Josh Larsen, Conor Keys, Kyle Baillie, Lucas Rumball, Dustin Dobravsky, Phil Mack (capt.), Robbie Povey, Brock Staller, Nick Blevins, Doug Fraser, Cole Davis, Patrick Parfrey.

Replacements

Martial Lagain, Anthony Luca, Ryan Kotlewski, Noah Barker, Cameron Polson, Andrew Ferguson, Guiseppe du Toit, Kainoa Lloyd.

 

 

The Canadian Press