The Canadian men’s national rugby team warms up during a training session in Leicester on Sept. 28. Canada is in the midst of playing three games in 11 days.BERTRAND LANGLOIS/AFP / Getty Images
Still rueing missed chances against Italy, Canada has little time to regroup ahead of what could be a long night Thursday against seventh-ranked France at the Rugby World Cup.
The 18th-ranked Canadians led No. 14 Italy 10-0 in the first half Saturday and 15-13 in the second and controlled play for stretches. But mistakes caught up with them and the Italians survived the Canadian onslaught to win 23-18.
"To be honest, it was pretty gutting afterward. They were pretty down for a fair while – which is natural," Canadian coach Kieran Crowley said of his players.
"It's not so much disappointment now but just the realization that it was there for us if we had performed a little bit better in a couple of areas," he added. "I think we're starting to get over the hump and hopefully come game time against France, we'll be excited about getting back out there and trying to do it again."
As a Tier II country, Canada rarely gets a chance to play elite teams other than at the World Cup. So a Tier I scalp would have been a handsome prize.
Instead, the weekend game in Leeds gets filed under the "What might have been" category.
Things only get more difficult at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes against France, which is 7-1 all-time against Canada and has won the past six meetings between the two, outscoring Canada 239-70 along the way.
Canada's lone win, an 18-16 decision, came 21 years ago in Ottawa.
France (2-0-0, nine points) currently stands second in Pool D behind fourth-ranked Ireland (2-0-0, 10 points). Canada (0-2-0, one point) is fourth in the five-team group.
"This is basically, I think, a dress rehearsal for them for Ireland," Crowley said of the French. "They've got just about their strongest team out there. You could probably have a debate about a couple of positions."
The top two teams in each pool advance to the quarter-finals while the third secures automatic qualification for the next World Cup. France opened with a 32-10 win over Italy before dumping Romania 38-11. Canada opened with a 50-7 loss to Ireland.
In choosing his team for France, Crowley has made four changes in the forward pack and two in the backs. Aaron Carpenter comes in for Ray Barkwill at hooker with Brett Beukeboom replacing Jebb Sinclair at lock.
There are two changes in the back row with Kyle Gilmour and Richard Thorpe coming in for Nanyak Dala and John Moonlight.
Crowley says Barkwill and Moonlight are being given a rest after a heavy work load, with the more physical Thorpe coming in to help combat the French drive up the middle.
Beukeboom, rested against Italy, gets another start after excelling in the opening game against Ireland. Both changes in the backs are injury-related.
Phil Mack starts at scrum half in place of Jamie Mackenzie, who took a blow to the ribs against Italy, and Nick Blevins takes over at centre for Connor Braid, who was forced to withdraw from the tournament after suffering a broken jaw and a concussion against Italy.
Braid has been replaced in the squad by Patrick Parfrey.
Winger Jeff Hassler continues to be sidelined by a calf strain.
The Canadians are in the midst of playing three games in 11 days. France, which played its first two games in five days, has been off since Sept. 23.
After the Canada game, France doesn't play again until Oct. 11 when it faces Ireland in the marquee matchup of Pool D. Canada wraps up Oct. 5 against No. 17 Romania.
French coach Philippe Saint-Andre has made 12 changes to his starting 15, including a test debut for winger Remy Grosso who replaces Yoann Huget (knee).
Only utility back Brice Dulin, powerful centre Wesley Fofana and flanker Bernard Le Roux started last week against Romania.
Saint-Andre has switched back to his preferred halves pairing of Frederic Michalak – France's all-time leading scorer – and Sebastien Tillous-Borde, but No. 8 Louis Picamoles and winger Noa Nakaitaci are not in the squad.
Saint-Andre says he is resting Picamoles, who played in all three warmup games and the first two matches of the competition, so that he "can recover physically and get some of his freshness back."