Canada name 31 man squad for the Rugby World Cup

Canada head coach Kieran Crowley has named his 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup in England.

Crowley, a World Cup winner as a player in 1987 with the All Blacks, enters his fifth World Cup campaign, having been to the first two as a player with New Zealand, serving one as a selector, and now entering his second in a row as coach of Canada.

Canada had named an initial 35-man roster after the Pacific Nations Cup but still had to trim it down to 31 before the end of the month. Tom Dolezel and Taylor Paris will both miss the tournament with injuries.

The squad features 17 forwards and 14 backs and will be captained by Tyler Ardron, who makes his World Cup debut.

“Tyler is part of the leadership group at Ospreys and captained them during the Six Nations this year,” said Crowley.

"He’s young but will call on the experience of Jamie Cudmore, Aaron Carpenter, Hubert Buydens and DTH Van Der Merwe, who all have World Cup experience, to help provide leadership.”