Lightning strikes again as Canada picks up second rugby win in Winnipeg in 33 years

The Canadian men’s rugby union touched down in Winnipeg for the first time in 33 years on Saturday and delivered a memory that will last a lifetime for its local supporters.

The world-ranked No. 25 Canadians earned a hard-fought 23-19 victory over No. 24 Zimbabwe in pool play of the inaugural World Rugby Nations Cup before 6,712 fans at Princess Auto Stadium, including a small but boisterous contingent of Zimbabwe supporters.

Canada’s last appearance in the provincial capital also brought a triumph over the United States in 1993, and if those in attendance made one thing clear on this evening, it’s that the city’s hunger for international rugby has only grown since then.

“A lovely bit of history,” said Canada’s head coach Stephen Meehan. “First time in 33 years, to come here to win, to beat Zimbabwe in our first-ever international between the two countries — so we’re on the right side of the history books.

“To do it in front of these supporters and to be in a place where there’s obviously a passion and an interest in the game and a drive for it, we’re delighted to be here. We’ve had a great week, and this just caps it off.”

Perhaps no one will have fonder memories from this rain-soaked evening than Kyle Steeves, the homegrown talent who returned to Winnipeg for the first time as a member of the national team.

The 26-year-old was serenaded by a thunderous ovation from a home crowd that included nearly 100 close friends and family as he checked into the match in the 46th minute, while Canada was protecting a lead.

“As soon as they saw me take off that pinny, everyone sort of erupted, and I don’t think there was a better feeling than that,” Steeves told the Free Press.

“Like, just having everyone behind you — I’m getting emotional talking about it — but running off the field after and seeing my family, I couldn’t look anyone in the eye. Tears were coming out, and it was — this is absolutely the highlight of my career, and I imagine it will be for a while.”

Steeves, a tighthead prop who does the dirty work that often goes unnoticed, made several impressive plays and did his part in the middle of scrums. Though he came off the bench on this night, he is in the midst of competition for a starting role when Canada returns to next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.

“It’s so special,” said teammate Peter Nelson. “I don’t know how many people he had at the game time — I think it was over 100 of his mates and family. That’s class. We want people to be able to play in front of their family and friends, and just delighted we were able to get the win for him, as well.”

After beginning the tournament with a draw and a loss, Canada improved to 1-1-1 as the first portion of the Nations Cup and Canada’s home summer tour came to an end. The second half of the schedule will begin in November. Zimbabwe has now lost each of its first three matches in the tournament.

Zimbabwe — which received scores from Liam Larkan (56th minute), Cleopas Kundiona (70’) and Dion Khumalo (80’) — had three tries to Canada’s two — Mason Flesch (41’) and Calixto Martinez (58’) — but the difference for the hosts was Nelson’s leg.

The fullback went three-for-four on penalty goals and made both of his conversions, accounting for 11 points in total.

Nelson, who hails from Dungannon in Northern Ireland, plays club for the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby. On this night, however, the 33-year-old represented the Red and White admirably in his 36th career cap since 2019.

“We stuck to (our game plan) pretty well. We knew that (Zimbabwe had) really dangerous players, especially in their back three; we didn’t want to kick loosely to them,” said Nelson. “We needed our kick just to be on point, and I thought for the majority of the game it was. So I was able to slot into that game plan quite well with my kicking game and stuff. So thankfully, for the most part, it went pretty well.”

Nelson made a pair of three-point penalty goals to give the Canadians a 6-0 lead when the match was suspended in the 32nd minute due to severe weather in the area. Play was suspended for nearly an hour before resuming.

Canada showed no rust had built up during the delay. Izzak Kelly broke through the line in the 38th minute but coughed the ball up deep in Zimbabwe territory. The Canadians maintained their excellent territorial advantage, however.

Shortly after, Nelson lofted a high-arching kick to the far-side pylon, where Flesch waited to haul the ball in before scoring the first try of the match, lifting the home crowd to its collective feet as Canada took a 13-0 lead into halftime.

During the halftime break, select alumni of the Wanderers Rugby Football Club were honoured as the club celebrated its centennial anniversary.

“What I really liked was the eight minutes that we played after we had to stop for that lightning strike,” said Meehan. “I think that eight minutes probably won us the game in some respects. I thought the players focused; they really managed that period off the field really well. And so when they came back on, they were ready to go, and bang, great eight minutes. So, really happy.”

Zimbabwe came alive in the 56th minute after a lineout turned into a maul and the visitors drove the ball right down to the Canadian try line, where it appeared Larkan was short of the line to gain. After video review, it was determined that Larkan successfully broke the plane, cutting the Canadian lead to eight points.

On the ensuing kickoff, Zimbabwe muffed a pass that was scooped up by Kelly, who took it deep into the visitor’s territory. After the reset, Martinez barrelled his way through a pair of defenders for a successful try and immediate response from the hosts.

“We reacted really well,” said Steeves. “There’s some stuff that obviously doesn’t go your way. The lightning delay is something we can’t really control, but having the ability to come out … and just give it absolutely everything, knowing that we’re going to get a break right away, emptying the tank, playing the best rugby we can, and taking advantage of the opportunity.”

Zimbabwe made it interesting down in the final minute when Khumalo punched in a hard-fought try after Canada denied several attempts at the goal line, but the hosts once again responded well, milking the last few seconds to put the match away.

“We showed even a couple of weeks ago against Spain that we have the ability to soak things up and bounce back, and strike. I’m glad that we did it, obviously, but I would have liked to have seen us continue with that momentum, continue with that pressure. We didn’t execute a few things particularly well off the back of that and allowed them back into the game, but we worked well enough to get the score on the board, and they were chasing.”

Canada and Zimbabwe were the second part of a double-header that began with No. 15 Portugal defeating No. 20 Tonga 32-28 in a thrilling opener in front of a crowd of more than 4,000.

A back-and-forth match saw Otunuku Jr Pauta (17th minute), Taniela Filimone (25’), Telusa Veainu (48’) and Solomone Kata (64’) score tries for Tonga.

Patrick Pellegrini struggled on conversions, making just one after Veainu’s score.

Raffaele Storti (21’, 44’), Manuel Cardoso Pinto (30’), Nuno Mascarenhas (35’) and Andre Cunha (62’) responded for the Portuguese, while Samuel Marques successfully made a pair of conversions.

Portugal improved to 2-0-1 in pool play, while Tonga now owns a 1-0-2 record.

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