The Canadian U17 program is pleased to announce the
final squad selected to travel to the United Kingdom to compete at the
RFU’s Wellington Festival being held in Crowthorne Berkshire. The final
selection process has been extensive for program coaches and Rugby
Canada’s high performance staff.    


Jim Delaney has this to say, “Well here we are, after many months of
player identification from all over the country and hundreds of hours of
video analysis, we have selected what we feel is the best team.”


“After an intense week of final selections, we have a team.  The players
know each other very well but they will now have to face the fact the
hardest work is about to begin. They need to come together even more to
face the challenges ahead. We are no longer considered a Tier 2 team at
this festival and there can be no excuses from the athletes for not
stepping up the work rate, effort and physicality that good performances
demand.”


“During our preparation week, we will spend a lot of time preparing the
athletes mentally to compete against the best rugby players in Europe. 
We have proven in the past we are able to play well and win against
these teams but it takes a special effort and one I know this group
possesses. I look forward to seeing them perform and fulfilling our
expectations.”


The squad heads to England on March 29th and will spend a preparation
week at the premier English Rugby Academy, Hartpury College in
Gloucester.  The preliminary festival games for the squad include their
first game against Gloucester U17s and will wrap-up at the end of the
first week with a fixture at Newport Dragons Rodney Parade against Wales
U16. The fixture is a warm-up for the Wales team in preparation for
their U16 Four Nations game the following week.


Assistant Coach Dean Murtens, had this to say about the selection
process, “The selection process for the tour has been a long intense
process with lots of considerations made to get it right.  The good
thing is many coaches provided input into the selection, so all the
athletes had a fair chance to show their talents to a variety of coaches
from all parts of Canada.”


“This will be my first time at the RFU Wellington Festival, but from
what I have seen from previous years, this looks like a very strong
team.  I am excited to see this great group of players go out and
express themselves while playing for their country.  This team has a
great balance of pace, power and physicality so it should be a great
festival.”


Assistant Coach Francois Ratier had this to say, "We started our
selection process last summer at the Eastern Canada Championships and
Nationals. After three camps we selected the best twenty-six players for
the UK tour.  This tour and the Wellington festival will be the first
international experience for these young players, and with five games in
fifteen days, they will have the opportunity to express themselves
against the best teams in Europe.  They know the level of their
opponents and I am sure they are excited to meet the challenge."


Congratulations to all the players who worked so hard at the U17 camps. 
The program would like to thank all the individuals and groups who have
supported the program with special thanks going to Shawnigan Lake
School, British Columbia Rugby Union, Rugby Canada High Performance
staff and the many coaches from across the country that have volunteered
their time.




The selected players and non travelling reserves are:

PLAYER NAME/ CLUB/ CITY/PROVINCE
Nicholas Andrews – Lords Tweedsmuir SS (Surrey, BC)
Randall Barton – Shawnigan Lake (Duncan, BC)
Lucas Bradley – Alberni D SS (Port Alberni, BC)
Paul Ciulini – St Joan of Arc, Aurora Barbarians (Maple, ON)
Thomas Chan – Lakefield College (Peterborough, ON)
Andrew Coe – Bill Crothers, Markham Irish (Markham ON)
Peter John Collins – St. Michael’s College, Oakville Crusaders (Mississauga, ON)
Michael Douros – Senator O’Connor, Balmy Beach (Toronto, ON)
Giuseppe DuToit – Shawnigan Lake (Mapleridge, BC)
Marshall Fuller – Collingwood, Capilano (West Vancouver, BC)
Harjun Gill – St Georges School, Meralomas (Vancouver, BC)
Tristan Hooey – Glebe, Bytown (Ottawa, ON)
George Jeavons-Fellows – The Kings School, Worcester Warriors (Bricklehampton, UK)
Winston Jin – St Georges School, Meralomas (Vancouver, BC)
Kiera Lacey – Holy Heart of Mary, Swilers (St Johns, NL)
Jordan Marsh – Stoufville D.S.S, Markham Irish (Stouffville, ON)
Calixto Martinez – Earl Marriott, Bayside (Langley, BC)
Connor McRae – Collingwood, Capilano (West Vancouver, BC)
Christopher Miles – Shawnigan Lake, Velox (North Saanich, BC)
Spencer Miller – Yale, Abbotsford (Abbotsford, BC)
Oliver Nott – Shawnigan Lake, Cowichan (Cowichan, BC)
Rupert Peers – Elgin Park, Bayside (Surrey, BC)
Lucas Rumball – Senator O’Connor, Balmy Beach (Toronto, ON)
Mitchell Santilli – St.John’s College, Brantford Harlequins (Brantford, ON)
John Shaw – St. Peter CHS, Bytown Blues (Orleans, ON)
Brandon Waeyen – Henry Wisewood HS, Hornets (Calgary, AB)


NON TRAVELLING RESERVES:
Louis Retief – Sardis SS, Abbotsford (Chilliwack, BC)
Kieran Washburn – Beaumont composite, Edmonton NoeWesters (Beaumont, AB)
Thomas MacDougall – Chateauguay Valley, Ormstown (Ormstown, QC)
Devin King –Uxbridge SS, Oshawa Vikings (Stouffville, ON)
Tobin Sydney-Smith – Sentinel, Capilano (West Vancouver, BC)
Spencer Loughlin – Yale, Abbotsford (Abbotsford, BC)