Canada miss 109-cap trio for Pacific Nations Cup as five uncapped players earn call-ups

Canada will travel to Japan for their September Test window without three of their most experienced forwards, with hooker Andrew Quattrin, lock Evan Olmstead and No.8 Tyler Ardron all unavailable due to club commitments in France. The trio account for 109 caps between them.

Ardron and Olmstead are at the start of new club careers with Provence and Nice respectively, with the Pro D2 season beginning imminently. Quattrin, meanwhile, is already in action with Nationale side Carcassonne, having joined from Valence, making him unavailable for the tour.

With that experience absent, head coach Steve Meehan has turned to a younger group. Flanker Lucas Rumball, who has 67 Test appearances to his name, is comfortably the most-capped player in the 32-man squad and will be expected to provide leadership up front.

Meehan has handed first international call-ups to five uncapped players: Jamie Armstrong, Bryce Worden, Sam Turner, Ryan Cozens, and Jack Gore — the latter having been named Canadian University Rookie of the Year in 2025.

Canada open their tour on 5 September against Japan in Niigata City, a fixture that coincides with the Japanese Rugby Football Union’s centenary celebrations. Attention then shifts to the Pacific Nations Cup, which gets under way on 12 September against Fiji in Osaka.

The streamlined 2025 PNC concludes on 19 September in Tokyo, where Canada will face either Japan or the USA in either the Final or the Third Place Play-Off.