Two Newfoundlanders are among the 35 athletes at Rugby Canada’s training/selection camp that will determine the makeup of the team that will represent the country at the Junior World Rugby Trophy competition in Romania later this month.
Jack McCarthy of the St. John’s-based Vandals club and Campbell Clarke of the Swilers, also from St. John’s, are part of the group competing for 26 spots on the Canadian roster at the camp, being held at Shawinigan Lake, B.C., on Vancouver Island.
Both were members of the Newfoundland Rock team which was runner-up in the Canadian under-19 championship in Saskatoon. McCarthy was the top try-scorer in the tourney.
The training camp will involve a Sunday exhibition game against British Columbia’s under-23 team, where the group of would-be junior teams members will be divided into two rosters, with each playing a half.
Canada’s final travelling roster will be announced on Monday, before departing for Europe on Aug. 23.
The eight-team world junior event which begins Aug. 28 in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, will see Canada in a pool with Portugal, Uruguay and Fiji.
Samoa, Namibia, Hong Kong and host Romania are the other participants in the tourney where the big prize will be promotion to next year’s world junior (under-20) championship.
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