Extended squad for Canada

Canada have named four Championship-based players in their extended 50-man training squad for the World Cup.

Carpenter, Hotson, Michael-Stephen & Pritchard all included

Canada have named six Championship-based players in their extended 50-man training squad for the World Cup. Plymouth Albon trio Aaron Carpenter, Tyler Hotson and skipper Sean Michael-Stephen will be joined by Bedford Blues star James Pritchard and Esher's brothers Phil and Jamie McKenzie in the squad. Clermont's Jamie Cudmore, Glasgow winger DTH van der Merwe and Oxford University-based Stan McKeen are also included, along with the impressive Chauncey O'Toole. However van der Merwe's Warriors club-mate Kevin Tkachuk, a veteran of over 50 caps, has been overlooked. Head coach Kieran Crowley told Canada's official rugby site: "We wanted to make it 50 to show player where they're at.

Best

"We've got to make sure all players know they're in contention so they continue to work hard. "It's a squad we've narrowed down when looking at positional coverage. "We've picked the 50 best players that we can and the Canadian rugby Championship has played a big part in that. "We've certainly used the Americas Rugby Championship trip to Argentina, the European tour in November and the Churchill Cup to expose a lot of players, which allowed us to narrow it down to the group we have. It's been a long process." Canada - Forwards: Tyler Ardron (Ontario Blues), Brett Beukeboom (Ontario Blues), Hubert Buydens (Prairie Wolf Pack), Aaron Carpenter (Plymouth Albion), Jamie Cudmore (Clermont Auvergne), Nanyak Dala (Prairie Wolf Pack), Tom Dolezel (Ontario Blues), Brian Erichsen (BC Bears), Scott Franklin (Prairie Wolf Pack), Adam Kleeburger (Unattached), Mitch Gudgeon (BC Bears), Ryan Hamilton (BC Bears), Tyler Hotson (Plymouth Albion), Jeremy Kyne (Prairie Wolf Pack), Jason Marshall (BC Bears), Stan McKeen (Oxford University), Sean Michael-Stephen (Plymouth Albion), John Moonlight (Ontario Blues), Chauncey O'Toole (The Rock), Kevin Parfrey (The Rock), Jon Phelan (The Rock), Mike Pletch (Ontario Blues), Pat Riordan (BC Bears), Jebb Sinclair (The Rock), Luke Tait (unattached), Andrew Tiedemann (Prairie Wolf Pack), Frank Walsh (The Rock), Doug Wooldridge (Ontario Blues).
Backs: Kyle Armstrong (Ontario Blues), Nick Blevins (Prairie Wolf Pack), Connor Braid (BC Bears), Sean Duke (BC Bears), Matt Evans (Unattached), Ed Fairhurst (BC Bears), Jeff Hassler (Prairie Wolf Pack), Ciaran Hearn (The Rock), Nathan Hirayama (BC Bears), Jamie Mackenzie (Esher), Phil Mackenzie (Esher), Justin Mensah-Coker (BC Bears), DTH van der Merwe (Glasgow Warriors), Ander Monro (Ontario Blues), Taylor Paris (Ontario Blues), James Pritchard (Bedford), Mike Scholz (Prairie Wolf Pack), Ryan Smith (Prairie Wolf Pack), Conor Trainor (BC Bears), Sean White (BC Bears), Eric Wilson (BC Bears), Tyler Wish (The Rock)