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2009 Wales rugby union tour of North America
2009 Wales rugby union tour of North America
Date	30 May – 6 June 2009
Coach(es)	Robin McBryde (caretaker)
Tour captain(s)	Ryan Jones
Summary
P	W
Total
02	02
Test match
02	02
Opponent
P	W
Canada
1	1
United States
1	1
Tour chronology
Previous tour	South Africa 2008
Next tour	New Zealand 2010

In 2009, the Wales national rugby union team toured North America to play tests against Canada and the United States. They won both matches, beating Canada 32–23 in Toronto on 30 May, before a 48–15 win over the United States in Chicago on 6 June. Wales travelled with an inexperienced touring party due to several senior players being included in the British & Irish Lions' squad for their tour to South Africa. Five players earned their first Wales caps on the tour, including future captain Sam Warburton and centre Jonathan Davies.

Squads

Wales

With head coach Warren Gatland and attack coach Rob Howley on the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, forwards coach Robin McBryde was named as coach for Wales' tour of North America.^[1] Captain Ryan Jones was a surprise omission from the Lions squad,^[2] so he was able to continue as captain for Wales' tour. He was named to lead a 32-man squad that included 11 uncapped players, given opportunities by the selection of 13 Wales players in the Lions squad.^[3] After James Hook was called up to the Lions tour, Sonny Parker was added to the Wales touring party. Prop Eifion Lewis-Roberts dropped out of the tour due to a knee ligament injury and was replaced by Paul James, while full-back Dan Evans was called up to replace Gareth Owen, who suffered an Achilles injury. The squad was finally reduced to 26 with the dropping of Scarlets flanker Rob McCusker and Blues wing Richard Mustoe, in addition to the unavailability of Dragons players Luke Charteris, Lewis Evans, Dan Lydiate and Jason Tovey due to their involvement in a Heineken Cup play-off.^[4] Charteris rejoined the squad for the second match against the United States after Bradley Davies suffered an injury.^[5]

Name	Position	Club	Notes
Richard Hibbard	Hooker	Ospreys
Gareth Williams	Hooker	Cardiff Blues
Paul James	Prop	Ospreys	Replaced Eifion Lewis-Roberts due to injury
Duncan Jones	Prop	Ospreys
Eifion Lewis-Roberts	Prop	Sale Sharks	Withdrew due to injury
Craig Mitchell	Prop	Ospreys
John Yapp	Prop	Cardiff Blues
Luke Charteris	Lock	Newport Gwent Dragons	Unavailable due to club commitments; rejoined squad for United States match
Bradley Davies	Lock	Cardiff Blues
Ian Gough	Lock	Ospreys
Deiniol Jones	Lock	Cardiff Blues
Lewis Evans	Back row	Newport Gwent Dragons	Unavailable due to club commitments
Dafydd Jones	Back row	Scarlets
Ryan Jones	Back row	Ospreys	Captain
Dan Lydiate	Back row	Newport Gwent Dragons	Unavailable due to club commitments
Rob McCusker	Back row	Scarlets	Dropped prior to tour
Robin Sowden-Taylor	Back row	Cardiff Blues
Josh Turnbull	Back row	Scarlets
Sam Warburton	Back row	Cardiff Blues
Gareth Cooper	Scrum-half	Gloucester
Dwayne Peel	Scrum-half	Sale Sharks
Dan Biggar	Fly-half	Ospreys
Nicky Robinson	Fly-half	Cardiff Blues
Andrew Bishop	Centre	Ospreys
Jonathan Davies	Centre	Scarlets
James Hook	Centre	Ospreys
Sonny Parker	Centre	Ospreys
Jonathan Spratt	Centre	Ospreys
Chris Czekaj	Wing	Cardiff Blues
Tom James	Wing	Cardiff Blues
Mark Jones	Wing	Scarlets
Richard Mustoe	Wing	Cardiff Blues	Dropped prior to tour
Dan Evans	Full-back	Scarlets	Replaced Gareth Owen due to injury
Gareth Owen	Full-back	Ospreys	Withdrew due to injury
Jason Tovey	Full-back	Newport Gwent Dragons	Unavailable due to club commitments

Canada

Canada head coach Kieran Crowley named a 31-man squad for their games against Wales and Ireland, and for the Churchill Cup. The squad included uncapped forwards Chauncey O'Toole and Andrew Tiedemann, while centre Dave Spicer and former Wales under-21 lock Luke Tait.^[6]

Matches

Canada v Wales

McBryde named an inexperienced team for Wales' opening match against Canada; aside from scrum-half Gareth Cooper, the backs had just 10 caps between them, with debuts for Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies and full-back Dan Evans. Three more uncapped players were named on the bench in prop Craig Mitchell, flanker Sam Warburton and centre Jonathan Spratt.^[7] Early penalties from James Pritchard gave Canada a 6–0 lead inside the opening quarter of an hour, but a try from Chris Czekaj, making his first Wales appearance for almost two years, was converted by Dan Biggar to put Wales in front at the midway point of the half. After Canada lock Luke Tait was sent to the sin bin for killing the ball, Biggar then kicked three penalties before the end of the half, sandwiching another from Pritchard, to give Wales a 16–9 lead at the break. Cooper was injured in an unsuccessful try-scoring attempt just before half-time and replaced by Dwayne Peel for the second half. A try from Sean Duke, converted by Pritchard, levelled the scores early in the second half, only for Tom James to put Wales back in front with another converted try, before Biggar stretched Wales' lead with another two penalties shortly afterwards. A try by Ed Fairhurst, converted by Pritchard, narrowed the deficit to 29–23 just before the hour mark, but a penalty from Biggar put Wales nine points ahead with eight minutes to play. In the final quarter, Wales brought on Mitchell and Spratt for their first appearances, but Warburton was made to wait.^[8]

30 May 2009
14:45 EDT

Canada	23–32	Wales
Try: Duke 42' c Fairhurst 58' c Con: Pritchard (2) 43', 59' Pen: Pritchard (3) 9', 14', 30'	Report	Try: Czekaj 16' c James 48' c Con: Biggar (2) 17', 49' Pen: Biggar (6) 21', 27', 33', 53', 56', 72'

York Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 8,450
Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)


FB	15	James Pritchard
RW	14	Ciaran Hearn
OC	13	D. T. H. van der Merwe
IC	12	Ryan Smith
LW	11	Sean Duke		62'
FH	10	Ander Monro		40'
SH	9	Ed Fairhurst		74'
N8	8	Aaron Carpenter
OF	7	Adam Kleeberger
BF	6	Nanyak Dala		69'
RL	5	Luke Tait	21'	61'
LL	4	Mike Burak
TP	3	Andrew Tiedemann		60'
HK	2	Pat Riordan (c)
LP	1	Kevin Tkachuk
Replacements:
HK	16	Mike Pletch		60'
PR	17	Doug Wooldridge		69'
LK	18	Tyler Hotson		61'
FL	19	Sean-Michael Stephen		40'
SH	20	Matt Evans		74'
FH	21	Dave Spicer		62'
CE	22	Phil Mack
Coach:
Kieran Crowley


FB	15	Dan Evans
RW	14	Tom James
OC	13	Jonathan Davies	73'
IC	12	Andrew Bishop
LW	11	Chris Czekaj
FH	10	Dan Biggar
SH	9	Gareth Cooper	40'
N8	8	Ryan Jones (c)
OF	7	Robin Sowden-Taylor
BF	6	Dafydd Jones
RL	5	Deiniol Jones
LL	4	Bradley Davies
TP	3	John Yapp	61'
HK	2	Richard Hibbard	76'
LP	1	Duncan Jones
Replacements:
HK	16	Gareth Williams	76'
PR	17	Craig Mitchell	61'
LK	18	Ian Gough
FL	19	Sam Warburton
SH	20	Dwayne Peel	40'
FH	21	Nicky Robinson
CE	22	Jonathan Spratt	73'
Coach:
Robin McBryde

United States v Wales

The match against the United States was Wales' 600th test match. Despite scoring a try in the previous match, Wales wing Chris Czekaj was dropped to make room for Mark Jones, who had missed the Canada game due to injury. McBryde also replaced both half-backs, with Peel and Nicky Robinson coming in for Cooper and Biggar; in the forwards, hooker Gareth Williams replaced Richard Hibbard, while Ian Gough started in place of the injured Bradley Davies in the second row; Dragons lock Luke Charteris came onto the bench after joining the tour late, leaving Scarlets flanker Josh Turnbull and Ospreys centre Sonny Parker as the only touring players not to make an appearance in either match.^[9] For the United States, coach Eddie O'Sullivan dropped former Scarlets and Dragons fly-half Mike Hercus, and replaced him with Ata Malifa.^[10]

Nicky Robinson opened the scoring for Wales with a pair of penalties either side of the 10 minute mark, his first points for Wales in almost three years, but United States wing Gavin DeBartolo responded with one of his own a couple of minutes later. Those were to be the United States' only points of the first half, though, and Wales opened up a 27–3 half-time lead. Captain Ryan Jones went off midway through the half, having failed to recover from a head injury suffered in the opening seconds of the match, replaced by debutant Sam Warburton, but tries from Scarlets Mark Jones and Jonathan Davies (his first in international rugby) put Wales 20–3 up with 22 minutes gone. Another Wales back-rower Robin Sowden-Taylor had to be substituted before half an hour had been played, forcing Hibbard into filling in in an unfamiliar position. United States flanker Louis Stanfill was sent to the sin bin for pulling down a maul shortly afterwards, and Wales took advantage of their numerical superiority, forcing the Americans into conceding a penalty try. The United States reduced the deficit to 17 points with the first score of the second half, a try from Alipate Tuilevuka that was converted by DeBartolo, but Tom James restored Wales' lead with a try just past the midway point of the half. James suffered an injury with just over 10 minutes left to play; Cooper came on in his place and scored almost immediately before Davies scored his second try of the game, making JJ Gagiano's late try mere consolation.^[11] James and Ryan Jones were sent for scans on their injuries on their return from the tour.^[12]

6 June 2009
13:00 CDT

United States	15–48	Wales
Try: Tuilevuka 53' c Gagiano 80+1' m Con: DeBartolo 54' Pen: DeBartolo 13'	Report	Try: M. Jones 15' c J. Davies (2) 21' c, 78' c Penalty try 35' c James 62' c Cooper 70' c Con: Robinson (3) 15', 36', 64' James 22' Biggar (2) 71', 79' Pen: Robinson (2) 9', 11'

Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois
Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)


FB	15	Chris Wyles
RW	14	Gavin DeBartolo
OC	13	Alipate Tuilevuka
IC	12	Roland Suniula
LW	11	Kevin Swiryn		67'
FH	10	Ata Malifa		42'
SH	9	Mike Petri (c)		68'
N8	8	Nic Johnson
OF	7	Peter Dahl
BF	6	Louis Stanfill	33'
RL	5	Hayden Smith
LL	4	John van der Giessen
TP	3	Will Johnson		66'
HK	2	Chris Biller		56'
LP	1	Matekitonga Moeakiola		66'
Replacements:
HK	16	Brian McClenahan		56'
PR	17	Mike MacDonald		66'
LK	18	Courtney Mackay
N8	19	JJ Gagiano		66'
SH	20	Tim Usasz		68'
FH	21	Mike Hercus		42'
WG	22	Junior Sifa		67'
Coach:
Eddie O'Sullivan


FB	15	Dan Evans	61'
RW	14	Tom James	69'
OC	13	Jonathan Davies
IC	12	Andrew Bishop
LW	11	Mark Jones
FH	10	Nicky Robinson	64'
SH	9	Dwayne Peel
N8	8	Ryan Jones (c)	19'
OF	7	Robin Sowden-Taylor	29'
BF	6	Dafydd Jones
RL	5	Deiniol Jones
LL	4	Ian Gough	48'
TP	3	John Yapp	48'	64'
HK	2	Gareth Williams
LP	1	Duncan Jones		64'
Replacements:
HK	16	Richard Hibbard	29'
PR	17	Craig Mitchell	48'
LK	18	Luke Charteris	48'
FL	19	Sam Warburton	19'
SH	20	Gareth Cooper	69'
FH	21	Dan Biggar	64'
CE	22	Jonathan Spratt	61'
Coach:
Robin McBryde

Broadcasting

Broadcast rights for the matches were held in Wales by the BBC and S4C. The match against Canada was shown live on BBC Two Wales with highlights on S4C, while the game against the United States was shown live on S4C with highlights on BBC Two Wales. Radio commentaries were provided by BBC Radio Wales for both matches and BBC Radio Cymru for the United States game.^[13]

References

^ "McBryde to lead Wales summer tour". BBC Sport. 22 October 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
^ "Ryan Jones suffers shock omission". BBC Sport. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
^ "Jones to captain Wales tour party". BBC Sport. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
^ "Parker takes over from Lion Hook". BBC Sport. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^ "Peel returns as Wales take on USA". BBC Sport. 2 June 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^ "Canada name squad to face Wales". BBC Sport. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^ "Scarlets duo set for Wales debuts". BBC Sport. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^ "Canada 23-32 Wales". BBC Sport. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "Peel returns as Wales take on USA". BBC Sport. 2 June 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "Eagles drop outside-half Hercus". BBC Sport. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "United States 15-48 Wales". BBC Sport. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "Jones and James poised for scans". BBC Sport. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "BBC and S4C to screen Wales tour". BBC Sport. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2023.