Match will air live on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2pm ET/11am PT as part of CBC Sports’ Road To The Olympic Games and will stream live at cbcsports.ca and via the CBC Sports app

Rugby Canada is pleased to announce that Canada’s match against Ireland on Nov. 12 from Dublin will be broadcast live as part of CBC Sports’ Road To The Olympic Games. Coverage of the match is scheduled to begin at 2pm ET/11am PT on CBC and will also stream live at cbcsports.ca and via the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices.

The match is the first game of Canada’s November tour to Europe and will mark the eighth time the two sides have met.

“We’re delighted to partner with CBC Sports so that our match against Ireland can be seen by our passionate fans coast-to-coast,” said Rugby Canada CEO Allen Vansen. “It was a pleasure working with CBC Sports during the Rio Olympics and we’re excited to partner with them once again.”

The game, which will be played at the Aviva Stadium, kicks off at 2:15pm ET/11:15am PT. CBC Sports’ broadcast will begin at 2pm ET/11am PT with pre-match coverage with Road To The Olympic Games hosts Scott Russell and Andi Petrillo alongside Nigel Reed and Brian Spanton. Reed will provide the play-by-play calls for the match alongside analyst Spanton. Russell and Petrillo will rejoin Reed and Spanton to host CBC Sports’ halftime coverage.

“This match represents a great opportunity to showcase some of Canada’s top athletes taking on one of the world’s best teams on the international stage,” said Greg Stremlaw, executive director, CBC Sports, and general manager and chef de mission for CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of PyeongChang 2018. “We’re happy to once again be working with Rugby Canada to bring the action and excitement of this great sport to our audiences across Canada, including the ever-passionate rugby community.”

Canada last faced Ireland at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in each team’s tournament opener with the Irish claiming a 50-7 victory. Canada last visited Ireland in 2008 (a 55-0 defeat) and last welcomed them to Canada in 2013 when the two sides squared off at BMO Field in Toronto with the visitors claiming a 40-14 win.

The two sides played to a 27-27 draw in 2000 at Fletcher’s Fields in Markham, Ont.

Canadian head coach Mark Anscombe named a 28-man squad last week for Canada’s November tour. In addition to the match against Ireland, Canada will also face Romania on Nov. 19 and Samoa on Nov. 25.

Canada’s November Tour Roster (Name, Club, Roster):
Kyle Baillie – (Westshore RFC/Atlantic Rock) Summerside, PEI
Ray Barkwill – (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON
Brett Beukeboom – (Cornish Pirates) Lindsay, ON
Nick Blevins – (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
Connor Braid – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
Rob Brouwer – (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON
Aaron Carpenter – (London Welsh/Ontario Blues) Brantford, ON
Admir Cejvanovic – (Burnaby Lake RFC/BC Bears) Burnaby, BC
Matt Evans – (Cornish Pirates) Maple Bay, BC
Ciaran Hearn – (London Irish/Atlantic Rock) Conception Bay South, NL
Matt Heaton – (Darlington Mowden Park/Atlantic Rock) Godmanchester, QC
Eric Howard – (Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Blues) Ottawa, ON
Jake Ilnicki – (Manawatu Turbos/BC Bears) Williams Lake, BC
Conor Keys – (UVIC Vikes/Atlantic Rock) Stittsville, ON
Ryan Kotlewski – (Westshore RFC/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, ON
Ben Lesage – (UBC Thunderbirds/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
Phil Mack – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
Gordon McRorie – (UBC Old Boys Ravens/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
Evan Olmstead – (Newcastle Falcons/Prairie Wolf Pack) Vancouver, BC
Clay Panga – (Westshore RFC/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
Patrick Parfrey – (James Bay AA/Atlantic Rock) St. John’s, NL
Taylor Paris – (Agen) Barrie, ON
Lucas Rumball – (Balmy Beach RFC/Ontario Blues) Scarborough, ON
Djustice Sears -Duru – (Glasgow Warriors/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
Brock Staller – (UBC Thunderbirds/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Matt Tierney – (Section Paloise/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
Conor Trainor – (RC Vannes/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
DTH van Der Merwe – (Scarlets) Victoria, BC

Unavailable for selection:
Tyler Ardron – (Ospreys) Lakefield, ON
Hubert Buydens – (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saskatoon, SK
Jamie Cudmore – (Oyonnax) Squamish, BC
Nanyak Dala – (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saskatoon, SK
Kyle Gilmour – (St. Albert RFC/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
Jeff Hassler – (Ospreys) Okotoks, AB
Jamie Mackenzie - (UBCOB Ravens/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
Phil Mackenzie – (Unattached/Ontario Blues), Oakville, ON
Dan Moor – (Balmy Beach RFC/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON
Cam Pierce – (Section Paloise/Kelowna Crows) Vernon, BC
Jebb Sinclair – (London Irish/Atlantic Rock) Fredericton, NB
Andrew Tiedemann – (Bourgoin/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
Jordan Wilson-Ross - (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Alliston, ON

Men’s Coaching Staff:
Mark Anscombe – Head Coach
Graeme Moffat – Assistant Coach
Mike Shelley – Scrum Coach
Aaron Takel – Performance Analyst
Michael Deasy – Strength and Conditioning
Mallory White – Physiotherapist
Jessica Smith – Physiotherapist
Dr. Peet Du Toit – Doctor
Mark Winokur – Tour Manager
Alana Gattinger – Operations & Logistics Manager

Canada’s November Tour Schedule:
Canada vs. Ireland — Nov. 12 — Aviva Stadium, Dublin — 2:15pm ET/11:15am PT
Canada vs. Romania — Nov. 19 — Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest — 1pm ET/10am PT
Canada vs. Samoa — Nov. 25 —Stade des Alpes, Grenoble — 3pm ET/12pm PT

About CBC Sports
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s Olympic Network and is committed to showcasing high-performance athletes and sports across all platforms, including Canadian athletes and their international competitors. CBC Sports prides itself on ensuring Canadians always know the athletes who represent them before they see them atop the podium.

About Rugby Canada
Rugby Canada is the national governing body of the sport of rugby union in Canada. Rugby Football has a long history in Canada dating back to its initial appearance in the 1860s. Since 1974, Rugby Canada has been a permanent fixture on the global rugby scene, including trips to each of the eight Men's Rugby  World Cups and seven Women’s Rugby World Cups. As a regular on the Men’s and Women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, Canada continues to climb the world rankings and challenge the dominant rugby nations in both versions of the game. Canada’s Women’s Rugby Sevens Team also made history in 2016, capturing the first-ever Bronze Medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

To support the growth of rugby at the grass-roots level and to ensure there are elite programs for prospering young rugby players to become involved with, Rugby Canada has put an emphasis on developing its junior programs.  Our goal is to develop and train competitive teams for the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland, the 2018 Sevens World Cup in San Francisco, the 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan and 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/RugbyCanada
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RugbyCanada
YouTube: www.youtube.com/RugbyCanada
Instagram: www.instagram.com/RugbyCanada
Website: www.rugbycanada.ca

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For further information, please contact:
Bryan Kelly, manager, communications and media relations, Rugby Canada
bkelly@rugbycanada.ca
250-418-8998 ext. 314 (office); 250-216-5727 (mobile)

Simon Bassett, publicist, CBC
simon.bassett@cbc.ca
416-205-8533 (office); 416-988-1590 (mobile)