Canada Head Coach Kingsley Jones has named his match day roster for the team's Pacific Nations Cup match against the United States Saturday at 6:00pm PT / 9:00pm ET at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.

This is Canada’s second and final pool play match and they need a win to remain in with a shot at the semifinals. A loss and they have to play for 5th.

Canada met Japan in their opening Pacific Nations Cup match on Sunday in Vancouver, losing 55-28, but coming away with an important bonus point thanks to four tries from Andrew Coe, captain Lucas Rumball, and the McMullin twins, Talon and Takoda. Canada also outscored Japan in the second half 21-17, and while they still lost, it was something to hang their hopes on.

Takoda McMullin moves into the starting 15, his first start for Canada. Coe, who plays in the MLR with RFCLA (along with Conor Young), shifts from right wing to fullback, with Cooper Coats moving to the bench. Ten of the starting 15 play in Major League Rugby, with four more on the bench. Canada does not have a Major League Rugby franchise at the moment, but two high performance teams, Pacific Pride (which has been around for a while) and the Vancouver Highlanders, which plays an international schedule and serves as a domestic place for top-level players to play. Three Highlanders are in Canada's starting 15. 

This match will mark the first time Canada has played in California since 2018, and the first time the North American rivals have met since splitting the results of two Rugby World Cup qualification matches in 2021.

"We’ve spoken a lot about how we need and want to start our matches better,” said Jones. “Saturday’s match against the United States is not just another opportunity for us to measure ourselves against a good team, but an important contest that will dictate our position heading into the play-offs in Japan. This type of high stakes match will be good preparation for next year, when we will face the United States in the Pacific Nations Cup in a match that will help determine direct Rugby World Cup qualification.”