Canada Men's Head Coach Discusses Progress At The Mid Point Of The Wolverines European Tour

Canada men are two games into their three match tour of Europe, with games against Norway and Scotland in the back and a final outing against Netherlands set to take place at the weekend.

The Wolverines were victorious in Lillestrøm on Thursday 2^nd July with a resounding 6-56 victory over a relatively new Norwegian side reeling the tragic news of Emil Grindheim’s passing earlier that week.

The Wolverines then transferred to Manchester, using the University of Manchester as a base to prepare for their clash with Scotland which took place on Sunday 5^th July at Hawick RFC, a solid Scotland performance seeing the home side record a 22-10 win – their first since 2019.

“The match against Scotland was a great challenge for us, in regards to intensity and level of game play” noted Canada’s head coach Aaron Zimmerle. “The Scottish side had half a dozen players from Championship level, who were instrumental for them in terms of control and impact. This showed as they took advantage of a short side in the very 1^st set and released their Winger to race away.”

But Zimmerle was pleased with the performance of his players for large players of the match.

“The next 39 minutes was a grind with the Wolverines winning back territorial advantage” he continued. “Unfortunately we missed a few opportunities attacking their goal line which ultimately proved crucial and to make matters worse our captain and controlling halfback Blake Mahovic suffered a serious rib injury from a late shot that saw him have to leave the field.”

And the future looks bright for the Wolverines national side, with some younger tourists playing in pivotal positions as well as Canada entering a side in the European Rugby League U19s Championship which commences in Font Romeu on Sunday 12^th July.

“I was extremely proud of how our players responded with our 18-year old Fullback pushing up into the halves to cover for Blakes loss” Zimmerle added.

“Hooker Nathan Roberts was inspirational as he worked himself to a standstill in defence and still found the energy to threaten out of dummy-half. Our vice captain Jason Chuck also rose to the challenge as he constantly threatened to rip up the middle with his strong carries and brutal defence.”

But Zimmerle saved his highest praise for prop forward Matt Fish.

“He played 80 mins in the middle and on the edge, scored the try that dragged us back into the game and constantly punished the opposition with his bone jarring tackles!” he enthused.

The Wolverines returned to Manchester after their trip to Hawick and depart for Netherlands on Wednesday 8^th July ahead of the clash in Dordrecht on Saturday 11^th July, with the opportunity to train and prepare for the final game.

“The Scotland game is a game where we will learn many important lessons around attention to detail and consistency of effort when under fatigue” concluded Zimmerle.

“After our strong win against Norway, we found a much more dangerous opponent in Scotland who were both physical and skilful. It was great to see our Senior players and Rookies alike, dig deep in a very tough game of footy and I am confident we will be better for it.”

The final match of the tour against Netherlands kicks off at 2pm on Saturday 11^th July at the Dordtsche Rugby Club, Dordrecht , Netherlands.