When Squamish’s Jamie Cudmore started playing rugby competitively, he never imagined captaining the national team in front of several thousand people at BC Place.
On Saturday though, Cudmore led Team Canada in the first international test match ever held inside the stadium, as 18th- ranked Canada hosted 10th-ranked Japan before more than 10,000 people.
After the match, he spoke about the honour of being captain in what was a homecoming for the veteran player who now lives and plays professionally in France.
“I’m extremely honoured to see all the men that have come ahead of me,” he said.
He cited previous captains like Al Charron, whom he described as a mentor and influence.
“To follow behind guys like that is huge for me, and I’m extremely honoured to lead these boys out,” he said.
He also spoke about the growth of rugby in Canada, citing the sold-out rugby sevens tournament Vancouver hosted earlier this year as well as the crowd for Saturday’s match.
“Seeing all these fans out today was huge…. There’s real excitement…. That’s been really great for us. To play in venues like this is exactly what we need…. If we can get 15s and sevens playing here more regularly, I think the fans are really going to get behind it.”
He received an extra loud cheer from a group of fans during the introductions and spoke to people in the crowd following the game.
The team’s play was inconsistent on Saturday, and in the end Canada fell short of upsetting the Japanese, losing 26-22. The home country had held leads, including one gained on a try by Cudmore early in the second half, but fell behind as the game wore on. With time winding down they managed to score a try to cut Japan’s lead, and on the final rush they kept moving the ball upfield with a series of lateral passes, finally attempting to force the ball over the try line but fell just shy of scoring a try that would have moved them ahead by one point.
Japan, which will host the next World Cup for rugby in 2019, most notably knocked off the powerful South Africans, currently ranked third, at last year’s World Cup. Canada has played Japan 24 times over the years but has not beaten the Brave Blossoms since 2005.
Both Cudmore and new head coach Mark Anscombe spoke about the need for consistency. Canada actually scored four tries to Japan’s two, but the visitors were able to make conversions and add further points off Canadian penalties to eke out the victory.
“It’s heartbreaking for us, and we’ve got to work a lot harder and be a lot more precise, so that things like this don’t happen again,” Cudmore said.
Still, the captain was pleased with the effort at the end of the game, as the team rallied from behind.
“I’m extremely proud of them,” he added.
Cudmore and his Canadian teammates will host two more test matches in the coming weeks. On Saturday, they play 19th-ranked Russia in Calgary at Calgary Rugby Park and on June 26 they take on 14th-ranked Italy at Toronto’s BMO Field.
