WALES 34 CANADA 13
Warren Gatland’s much changed Wales blustered their way to a 21-point win over Canada in the second match in the Invesco Perpetual Series 08.
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The scoreline may suggest a comfortable win, but the 59,326 who crowded into the Millennium Stadium would only have been confident of the win in the final 30 minutes.
It was the visiting Canucks who took the lead, and frustrated Wales to hold them to just a four- point lead at the interval despite a Morgan Stoddart try after 24 minutes and a 39th minute score from the impressive Leigh Halfpenny.
Butit was only when Dwayne Peel replaced debutant Martin Roberts behind the scrum that Wales began to take charge.
Penalty tries on 58, and 71 minutes asserted the dominance of the Wales pack, and a last minute score from Halfpenny, finished the scoring.
“We will take the win, said Captain Ryan Jones “We’ll look at the positives, some good performances from the new guys, and from some of the returning players,” he said.Â
Wales 34 Canada 13
HT: 10-6 Attendance: 59,326
Wales: M Stoddart, L Halfpenny, T Shanklin (J Roberts 46), A Bishop, M Jones, J Hook, M Roberts (D Peel 52), J Yapp, R Hibbard, R Thomas (E Lewis-Roberts 63), I Gough, L Charteris, D Jones, R Sowden-Taylor, R Jones [capt] (A Powell 52)
Replacements used: J Roberts, A Powell, D Peel, E Lewis-Roberts
Scorers: Try – M Stoddart, L Halfpenny (2) ; Conversion – D Biggar; Penalty – D Biggar
Canada: J Pritchard, C Hearn (M Evans 68), B Keys (D van Camp 52), R Smith, J Mensah-Coker, A Monro, E Fairhurst (M Williams 56), K Tkachuk (F Walsh 71), P Riordan, J Thiel [capt] (M Pletch 26), T Hotson (M Burak 60), J Jackson, J Sinclair, A Kleeberger, A Carpenter (S Stephen 53)
Replacements used: M Williams, M Pletch, D van Camp, S Stephen, M Burak, F Walsh, M Evans
Scorers: Try – R Smith; Conversion – D van Camp; Penalty – J Pritchard (2)Â
Man of the Match: John Yapp
