Match #1 – Canada 59 Colombia 46

In the first of two matches on Wednesday at the Genea Netball Center, Canada defeated Colombia by a score of 69-46. The dominant performance earned Canada their first win of the 2018 Wheelchair Rugby World Championship and allowed them to leapfrog over Colombia and Poland into fourth place in Pool B.

Desperately needing a win, Canada came out swinging in the first half against Colombia, scoring the game’s first four tries.

Offensively, Canada managed to move the ball a lot quicker than they had in previous matches, with clever passing combinations between Branden Troutman and veteran player Mike Whitehead causing all sorts of problems for Colombia. Canada’s ability to carefully manage the ball on offense was also equally as impressive, only ever turning it over to Colombia once in the half.

On defense, Canada was even better than a brick wall. Colombia simply couldn’t get through, which led to many turnovers on their part. Trevor Hirschfield, Cody Caldwell, Patrice Dagenais and Travis Murao would each record either a steal or an interception in the first half.

Canada would go into half-time with a commanding 30-21 lead.

The third quarter would see much of the same, as Canada outscored Colombia 14-8 and took a fifteen-point lead from which the Colombians would never recover.

Matt Debly and Anthony Létourneau made their World Championship debuts in the fourth quarter as Canada maintained the sizeable point margin for the remainder of the match.

Co-Captain Patrice “Pico” Dagenais speaking after the match: “The win feels good. It was a must-win game against Colombia. We wanted to have a great start and I think we were able to do that. Right from the tip-off, we were up by a few points, which I think it just really fired up the whole team.”

“I believe we played Canada rugby today – we were on them early, we worked hard, we supported each other, and we managed to adjust to whatever they did on the court. It was finally a game that we could say that we were proud of. We now need to just keep going”

“I’m was very happy with the entire team’s contribution today. It was definitely a team win. At the end of the game, when a few of the new players got to make their first appearance at a World Championship, we were all cheering them on. I was very happy for them.”

Match #2 – Canada 47 USA 54

An old rivalry was reignited on Wednesday night at the Genea Netball Center, as Canada and USA played each other once again. It was the eight time that these two teams have met at a world championship, with the USA holding a narrow 4-3 lead over the Canadians going in.

The match started very evenly, with the two teams going try for try in the first five minutes. Branden Troutman, a breakthrough star of the tournament, led the scoring for the Canadians, while Josh Wheeler racked up many tries for the Americans.

The first breakthrough came in favor of the Americans when a misplaced pass by Canada’s Mike Whitehead went out of bounds. On the ensuing possession, USA would score and open a two-point lead. The first quarter would end Canada 13 USA 13.

In the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters of the match, USA would show why they are one of the tournament’s favorites, by being incisive on attack and unshakable on defense. Their dominant play would allow them to stretch their lead to 10 tries.

Patrick Côté’s team never knows when to quit though, as Canada would put in a fantastic 4^th quarter performance, outscoring the Americans by three tries and forcing them into four turnovers.

The match would finish 47-54 in favor of USA.

The result means Canada finishes the preliminary round of the World Championship with an overall record of 1 win and four losses, placing them 4^th in Pool B.

NEXT MATCH: Canada v. Denmark (August 8 at 23:30 EST // August 8 at 20:30 PST)

As a result of finishing 4^th in Pool B, the best place Canada will now be able to finish at the World Championship is 5^th. In order to achieve this finish, they will need to win their remaining two matches of the tournament, starting with Denmark.

The teams last met in June at the 2018 Canada Cup in Richmond, BC. Canada came out victorious on the day winning 58-51. Fabien Lavoie finished the game with a team-high 14 tries.

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Key Facts:  Denmark (3-2)

World Championship: 6^th Place (2014), 12^th Place (2006)
Paralympics: Not Participated
World Ranking: 8th
2018 WRWC Qualification: 4^th Place – IWRF 2017 European Championship
Head Coach: Jason Regier
Squad: Mark Peters (3.5), Sebastian Fredriksen (3.5), Leon Jorgensen (3.0), Morten Elmholt (3.0), Mikkel Schottel (2.0), Kristian Bak Eriksen (2.0), Jesper Krüger (1.0), Sofie Skoubo (0.5), Kurt Busk (0.5), Thomas Pagh (0.5).

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Canada’s match against Denmark will available to be watched live on Wheelchair Rugby Canada’s Facebook page HERE. The match will broadcast on Monday, August 8, 2018, at 23:30 EST // 20:30 PST.

All 42 WRWC 2018 matches are also available live on cbcsports.ca and via the CBC Sports app and will be live-streamed on cbcsports.ca and via the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, as well as cbc.ca/watch and via the CBC TV App.