Patrick Parfrey of St. John’s will be the assistant captain and part of the starting lineup as the Canada Selects rugby teams takes on Castres in an exhibition rugby game at Lacaune, France.
The game is part of a tour of France that will serve as preparation for 22nd-ranked Canada for a November repechage tournament in Marseille, France, that serves as a last chance to qualify for the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Canada, No. 21 Hong Kong and No. 29 Germany will be joined by the second-place team from the ongoing Rugby Africa Gold Cup at the repechage.
The tournament winner will slot into Pool B at the World Cup alongside No. 1 New Zealand, No. 6 South Africa, No. 14 Italy and the Africa Gold Cup winner.
The Canadian men, who have never missed out on the World Cup, lost earlier qualifying series against the No. 15 Americans and No. 18 Uruguay.
