Canadian men’s rugby team, ranked No. 23, take on 19th-ranked Portugal on Saturday
Spencer Jones’s road to the Canadian rugby team took him to New Zealand, Europe, Texas and then Victoria.The 24-year-old Jones will start at fly-half Saturday when 23rd-ranked Canada takes on No. 19 Portugal in Lisbon. It’s the first outing for the Canadian men since they failed to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, losing series against the 17th-ranked United States and No. 26 Chile.
Born in Vancouver to a Canadian mother and Kiwi father, Spencer Jones was 13 when his family moved to New Zealand where his rugby education got a boost. He played for the Hamilton Old Boys and was part of the Waikato Development squad.After a year and a half at the University of Waikato, a 21-year-old Jones was backpacking in Europe when he ran into someone at a hostel who suggested he play for a club team in Austin. That led to a stay in Texas before rugby took him to Victoria.
His mother’s relatives are in Alberta with his father’s family all back in New Zealand. Jones has not been back to New Zealand since the pandemic but has an airline ticket booked for later this month. The hiatus from the pandemic meant he did not miss that many games in 2020. But he says the layoff was still “super-hard.”
“Portugal look like favourites to finish as the team that goes to the World Cup from the European Nations Cup, so it’s a big challenge,” Jones said in a statement. “I want to see our players continue their learning, particularly defensively. That is an area we need to get better at. “There are a lot of the sevens boys on that team so they’re going to be fast and hard-runners,” Jones said. “We’re expecting a big offload game from them, so we’ll just try to shut them down early and put a lot of pressure on them. Hopefully they don’t expect what’s coming.”Jones made his Canada debut in the 34-21 win over the U.S. on Sept. 4 in St. John’s. He recalls getting his jersey for the first time.
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