Plenty of Canadian content as Seattle hosts Toronto in Major League Rugby play

Canada captain Phil Mack’s welcome will likely be warm and short Sunday when the Toronto Arrows visit his Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby play.

Introductions won’t be needed. Thirteen of the Arrows’ starting 15 are Canadian and nine members of the matchday 23 are Canadian internationals.

“Certainly I’ve played alongside a lot of them,” Mack, a veteran scrum half who has won 55 caps for Canada, said of the Arrows. “I’ve played against them for a long time. So it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Seattle, who won the MLR’s inaugural title in 2018, also has a sizable Canadian contingent in wing Brock Staller (Vancouver), centre George Barton (Duncan, B.C.), back-rower Cam Polson (London, Ont.), flanker Nakai Penny (Penticton B.C.) and prop Djustice Sears-Duru (Oakville, Ont.).

The Seawolves roster also draws on talent from the U.S., Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Fiji, New Zealand and South Africa.

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Penny and Sears-Duru were part of the Canadian squad that just played Americas Rugby Championship matches in Uruguay and Brazil. That roster included seven members of the Arrows: Guiseppe du Toit, Cole Keith, Kainoa Lloyd, Jamie Mackenzie, Lucas Rumball, Theo Sauder and Mike Sheppard.

Sheppard and du Toit slot back into the Arrows’ starting lineup at lock and inside centre, respectively. Du Toit will make his MLR debut, while Andrew Wilson and Doug Wooldridge will be waiting to do the same from the bench.

“The guys have looked sharp in training all week, and definitely have a little extra bounce in their step after our first win last Friday,” Chris Silverthorn, Toronto’s director of rugby, said in a statement. “We’re starting to get a couple of our players back from international duty, and the squad is filling back out again. We’ve seen plenty of good competition for spots, which has helped push us during the early weeks of the season.”

Toronto is coming off a 23-19 decision over Austin Elite Rugby in Texas on Feb. 8. The Arrows lost their season opener in New Orleans by a 36-31 margin despite a 24-point fightback in the second half.

“As a Canadian I think it’s fantastic,” Mack said of Toronto joining the league. “We need to expose more Canadian rugby players to any higher-level rugby and the MLR’s a perfect outlet.

“Having a team like Toronto, having them provide 30 to 35 guys kind of the full-time rugby experience is massive as a country. In terms of what it’s going to do for development and long-term growth in Canada, it’s huge.”

Mack has done his part for Canadian rugby, starring at both the sevens and 15s level.

The 33-year-old splits his year between his Victoria home and Seattle. That means being away from his wife during the season, although they trade visits when possible.

Facing a tough schedule to open the 2019 season, Seattle is 1-2-0. The Seawolves downed the Glendale Raptors 20-18 in a rematch of last year’s championship game before losing 17-13 to at the San Diego Legion in heavy rain and 41-31 at New Orleans (NOLA Gold).

NOLA Gold (3-0-0, 15 points including bonus points) tops the nine-team standings, ahead of San Diego (2-1-0, nine points), Toronto (1-1-0, six points) and Seattle (1-2-0, six points).

“I have all the faith that over the duration of the season, we’re going to start sorting things out and for us it’s going to have to start this weekend against Toronto,” said Mack.

Mack served as a player coach last season but has put the coaching aside this season with Richie Walker running the show in 2019. 

Mack captained Canada to victory in last November’s last-ditch World Cup qualifying tournament in France. Wins over Kenya, Germany and Hong Kong earned the Canadian men the 20th and last berth in the Rugby World Cup that starts Sept. 20 in Japan. 

“That was probably one of the most challenging experiences, the pressure was pouring on to get into the world Cup. I thought the boys really responded well. To get there is an achievement but to perform well at the World Cup is completely different. So we still have a ton of work to do and I think everybody’s really looking forward to get into that work.”

Mack, who made his test debut against Ireland in May 2009, says he will likely retire after the World Cup.

“There’s not many better occasions to make the decision to not play any longer than the World Cup. I’m going to put all the energy and all my effort into performing at the World Cup. I never say never but we’ll see what happens at the end of it.”

He hopes to go into coaching after calling time to his playing career.

Sunday’s game is the third of eight consecutive away matches for the Arrows. Toronto will then play straight home matches between April 7 and June 2 to close out the regular season.

Toronto Arrows Lineup:

Tom Dolezel, Andrew Quattrin, Morgan Mitchell, Mike Sheppard, Paul Ciulini, Peter Milazzo, Marcello Wainwright, Kolby Francis, Andrew Ferguson, Sam Malcolm, Dan Moor (capt.), Guiseppe du Toit, Spencer Jones, Avery Oitomen, Shawn Windsor.

Replacements

Steven Ng, Doug Wooldridge, Cole Keith, Josh Van Horne, Andrew Wilson, Riley Di Nardo, John Sheridan, Jack Evans.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press