All this conjecture was unnecessary as Wales, wearing green for the second successive game, ran in seven second half tries to overturn a 9-6 Canadian half time lead.
Sapped of energy due to the efforts of their previous games, Canada could only manage three penalty kicks to Wales’s eight tries and four conversions in a game in which their lead and strength evaporated in a Welsh, one way second half.
Canadian fullback Gareth Rees, a descendant of Welsh parentage, kicked a penalty to put the Canucks three points clear in the first minute. Wales notched their first try a few minutes later after Adrian Hadley sprinted from one wing through the middle of the field and passed to opposite winger Ieuan Evans to touch down his first of what would be four tries. Paul Thorburn converted.
Following this spell of open play Wales’s game became almost introverted, the Welsh perhaps biding their time to use the wind to their advantage in the second half. Canada’s Ron Hindson and Glen Ennis were influential in winning ball at the line outs with Bruce Breen and Robert Frame quick to collect loose ball. Canada also showed some exciting running from centre Tom Woods.
Wales handed Canada various penalty opportunities, and the Canucks had three chances to push over the line with ten man packs. Yet they failed to touch down, and Rees could only add two further penalties for his side.
The second half brought a turn around in Wales’s play, much of which can be accredited to acting Captain Jonathan Davies. In commanding form, splitting the Canadian defence at will, three of Davies’s seven breaks led to tries. Davies, together with John Devereux and centre Bleddyn Bowen, formed Wales’s strike force and created the carnage leading to the seven second half tries, scored by Evans (3), Devereux, Bowen, Hadley and Allan Phillips.
Wales’s wing Ieuan Evans equalled the Welsh record of four tries in an international, following Maurice Richards in 1969, R A Gibbs (1908) and William Llewellyn (1899). Canada were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty try following three collapses of Wales’s scrum in the first half. They also lost their scrum half Ian Stuart after clashing with his opposite number Ray Giles; the Canadian needed ten stitches in a facial wound and had to be replaced by David Tucker.
Following this win against the Canucks Wales had topped the Pool 2 table, despite their somewhat unconvincing victories. With Australia topping their pool and England finishing in second place, as most had predicted, the quarter final matches would see Australia v Ireland and England v Wales. From the other two pools, New Zealand would face Scotland and France were to meet Fiji.
