Health and performance problems have plagued Canada's national rugby team, but it hopes to put all that behind today against Japan in an Epson Cup Pacific Rim match.
"We've done a lot of soul searching and we've analyzed our character," head coach Dave Clark said. "We should be able to resolve a lot of our shortcomings so the Canadian rugby public can be proud of us."
But it won't be easy. A physical and psychological blow to the team was the loss of Pat Dunkley, a four-year veteran of the team, who contracted the flesh-eating disease after suffering a cut to his right leg from cleats during a match in Samoa last week. All of the infected flesh appears to have been removed, with no damage to muscle or nerves.
This came on the heels of Rod Snow, who missed a week of play after a bout of tick fever caused by an insect bite while visiting a South African game reserve in June.
In terms of form, Canada just isn't the same team that won the competition from 1996 to 1998, when it was a four-country event known as the Pacific Rim series. Canada is 1-3, losing its past three matches and coming off a 41-22 loss to Samoa and a 42-11 defeat against Fiji last week. At the bottom of the heap are the Japanese at 0-4. The Japanese are the defending champions of the Epson Cup tournament, which was recently expanded to six teams.
"It's a totally new team from last year," Japanese head coach Saiji Hirao said. "We started from scratch, so we don't feel a lot of pressure."
Both teams are in a rebuilding phase and have brought in a lot of new players to work toward the next World Cup, in 2003.
The teams match up fairly well, but Clark said the Japanese should not be underestimated and are always a difficult team to play.
"They are nimble, nifty and never there when you want them to be," Clark said.
The Japanese may be quicker than the Canadians, but Clark hopes to slow them down with physical size and use that to Canada's advantage to play a more wide-open game.
Captain Al Charron said the players have been disappointed by their performance in the past two games and are determined to rectify it.
"We are undefeated at home thus far and it's a big opportunity to make up for a lot of mistakes made in the last couple of games," said Charron, who will win a record 60th cap against the Japanese.
Despite the intense travelling schedule and hot weather conditions the Canadian team has played in lately, Charron said the mistakes they have been making are not acceptable.
"Being tired is a convenient excuse," he said. "We've had the same performances in the past and have been well rested."
Both teams will try to move the ball wide and make use of their big men, but the Canadians will have to contend with the quickness of the Japanese and work on making good tackles and handling the ball well.
"We can't get lazy," Charron said.
Clark has made five changes to the team: Veteran prop Rod Snow returns in place of Kevin Tkachuk, Ryan Banks replaces Philip Murphy at No. 8, Jared Baker comes in for Scott Stewart at fly half, Jason Verstraten moves into the wing position ahead of Mark Irvine and Harry Toews replaces Dunkley at hooker.
The winner of the tournament will be decided in today's other match when the United States plays Samoa. If Samoa wins, it would take the title over Fiji.