Canada's Senior Men's 15 team coach Kingsley Jones looks on during the team's warm up prior to the first match of the Rugby World Cup 2023 Qualification Pathway against the US Eagles in St. John's, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021. The developmental Canada Selects side will play Major League Rugby's Seattle Seawolves on Feb. 21. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly
The developmental Canada Selects side will play Major League Rugby’s Seattle Seawolves on Feb. 21.
The match will take place at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash., the home of the two-time MLR champions located south of Seattle.
Rugby Canada says the Selects will feature national team prospects and emerging university and Pacific Pride players. The Pride is Rugby Canada’s academy side.
The game is the first between the Selects and an MLR team, although the side did play the Ontario Arrows in 2018. The Arrows went on to become the Toronto Arrows, who folded in November after five MLR seasons.
The Selects’ match is part of the Seawolves’ pre-season preparation.
“This is a quality competition opportunity and a chance for our coaching staff to watch and work with some up-and-coming Canadian players in a high-performance environment,” Canada men’s coach Kingsley Jones said in a statement.
“Having more frequent opportunities such as this to come together for matches against competition like the Seawolves is important for the continued growth and development of our men’s program. This is something that we want to build on, and we’re excited to get to work with this group.”
The Pacific Pride and Seawolves will meet in a practice game Feb. 16.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2024