NEWS REPORT

Ottawa: Rugby Canada's National Coach and Selectors have named a strong squad for the Pan American Rugby Association (PARA) Tournament which kicks off in Kingston, Ontario on 19th May 2001. The National Rugby Team will do battle with the United States Eagles, Uruguayan Toros and the Argentinean Pumas for the Rugby supremacy of the Americas. They have named a squad of 27 Players, 26 of whom will travel to the event, and nine of these are Players returning from their professional Clubs in Europe.
The Tournament opens Saturday 19th May at Richardson stadium of Queens University in historic Kingston, when Uruguay takes on Argentina at 12:00 noon, and Canada takes on the United States at 2:00 p.m. This battle of Rugby's North American rivals takes on even more edge, as the winner not only moves on to the top places in PARA, but the team will represent the region at the Pacific Rim Championship, to be held in Japan in early July.

Canada holds a dominant 22 wins, 8 loss, and one draw record against the Eagles, but this year it badly needs a win to maintain its eleventh place standing in the world's international Rugby rankings. The United States have won the last two encounters beating Canada, 18-17 in Toronto in 1999, and 34-25 in Manchester, New Hampshire in 2000. However, Canada have won their last two international matches, against Japan and Italy, and they will seek to improve Coach David Clark's record of 3 wins, 4 losses and a tie.

Canada will be led by Al Charron, who also captains his professional Club side in the French Elite League, and who enters this game with a record 61 international caps. He is joined by fellow returning exiles from France, Gregor Dixon of the Aurillac Club and Nikyta Witkowski of Perpignan.

From Wales come the formidable prop Rod Snow of Newport and lineout winner John Tait of Cardiff. Unfortunately, Danny Baugh of Cardiff is under suspension and will be lost to Canada for the season. The England contingent includes veteran back Scott Stewart from Bedford RFC, Sale Sharks prop Jon Thiel, and the return to the National Team squad of Mike Schmid, captain and back row for Rotherham RFC. Last of the exiles is Duane Major of New Zealand, who signed a professional contract with Canterbury this season.

Hooker Pat Dunkley has made a remarkable recovery from his brush with serious illness after the Pacific Rim Championships last year, and the whole squad is pleased to see him back. Prop Kevin Wirachowski has continued to impress selectors since his last minute addition to the winning team against Italy in November 2000, and he returns to compete for a spot. Boris Stoikos at prop, and Dale Burleigh at hook, both from Ontario complete the front row selections.

Second row forwards are led by John Tait and Ed Knaggs, and Charron also plays here for his Club. However, there are two young newcomers who will be anxious to hone their second row skills in Ron Johnstone and Colin Yukes. In the back row, Al Charron, Mike Schmid, Ryan Banks, Gregor Dixon and Jeff Tomlinson will give Coach David Clark a hard-nosed group to select from.

In the backs, Milau is joined at scrum half by Ed Fairhurst in his first selection since he toured with the Pacific Rim tournament squad in 1998. Jared Barker and Scott Stewart will vie for the outside half position, although Scott might be preferred at full-back. Kyle Nichols and Nik Witkowski were the starting centers in 2000, but John Cannon has been making a name for himself and must be a contender. In addition, Colin Robertson has returned to the team after a year's lay-off, while Mark Irvine will be battling for a regular position. On the wings, Sean Fauth, Jeff Williams and Mark Irvine, can provide the team with speed and elusive running.

Twenty-seven Players are named to the Squad, but only 26 will travel for the first game. A number of nagging injuries may yet leads to changes, and Coach Clark will need all of the time available to him to meld the squad for the opening match of the Tournament.

CANADA SQUAD FOR THE 2001 PARA TOURNAMENT: