World Ranking: 11.

COACH: Pat Parfrey. It will be the Irish born Parfrey's last competition in charge of the Canadian team as he takes up a position as head of the Canadian Rugby Board after the tournament. Not particularly pleased with Canada's run-in, losing to Japan, Fiji, Samoa, USA and Tonga in the Epsom Cup, a Pacific Rim series, the Newfoundland resident is nonetheless a thoughtful coach. With an eye on the future he is not afraid to blood young players.

TACTICAL TURN: Seen as a team who rely heavily on the front eight work ethic of dogged application and few fancy moves, Canada have been reviewing their rugby philosophy. As has been the case with Ireland and other countries, the running game has not come particularly easy as players have been spread all over the world since the game went open. Hit with some injuries and unavailability of players Canada will revert to type, relying on individuals like Dave Lougheed, their Leicester centre, along with sevens specialist and uncapped winger Fred Asselin, to do damage.

STAR TURN: Dave Lougheed. Strong-running centre who made his mark with Leicester's Allied Dunbar Premiership-winning team last season playing on the wing. A prolific try-scorer and excellent midfield distributor, Lougheed is one of the real danger men.

VERDICT: Canada will be hard pressed to repeat their run in the 1991 competition when they reached the quarter-finals before going out to New Zealand in a hard physical contest. They have shown that the big stage suits them and are confident of finishing ahead of Namibia and Fiji. Recent form however, sugests they will struggle to move on from the Pool stage despite French problems and traditional Fijian under-achievement.

FINAL THOUGHTS: "We are delighted to be in the World Cup, to be considered among the top 20 teams in the World and to have an opportunity to demonstrate that we deserve to be in this type of competition."

- Don Whidden (Canada team manager).