Team Canada rugby winger Jeff Hassler, attends a media event in Toronto on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 prior to Friday's test match against Italy at BMO Field.Neil Davidson/The Canadian Press
If there's such a thing as a world-class development game, Rugby Canada officials have one on their hands when Canada meets Italy Friday night at Toronto's BMO Field.
At least one more section of the stands will be opened up for tickets to be sold, said Nick Taylor, director of commercial operations for Rugby Canada, "and we've eclipsed what we sold last year against the United States. We anticipate 12,000 to 13,000 people."
Officially, Italy is ranked 12th in the world, Canada 13th. However, the Friday game will be used to showcase young players – some of whom haven't been capped as internationals before, says Italian team spokesman Andrea Cimbrico.
"Seven of our starting 15 and three on the bench are from the academy system, the most we've ever had," Cimbrico said.
Canada, too, will field a very young team as the national training centre gets off the ground in Langford, B.C., said Gareth Rees, manager of national team programs for Rugby Canada. "That national training centre is the biggest piece [of the puzzle] since I got involved with Canadian rugby more than 30 years ago."
The game won't lack energy, Rees said. On the contrary, players will fight to be noticed by Canadian head coach Kieran Crowley and Italy's bench boss, Jacques Brunel.
"We're pitting ourselves against one of the world's best teams," said Rees, who also recalled that last year's BMO Field match against the U.S. set up the Canadians for a win and a tie in their World Cup pool last October.
Canada is coming into the match off a 28-25 win over the U.S. at Kingston last Saturday. Crowley has made six lineup changes for Italy.
Four changes have been made to the pack, with hooker Mike Pletch coming in for the injured Ryan Hamilton and incumbent tighthead prop Jason Marshall returning to the starting side.
Lock Jebb Sinclair is handed his first start since returning from a stint with South African Super 15 side the Stormers, and young blindside flanker Tyler Ardron gets an opportunity after impressing at training. Rees said Sinclair, Ardron and Marshall are young for international forwards "and they have a lot of upside left."
Crowley said that while it was good to get the win against the U.S., there is plenty of room for improvement.
"We squandered a lot of opportunities through not seeing the space and through our own mistakes. We attacked the areas that we wanted to attack, but didn't do so well with our continuity after that," Crowley said in a statement.
"Italy will be a lot stronger than the United States so we won't get away with the mistakes we made last week. Cutting out the errors in our game is the big focus."
Two new wingers will be also get starts, Phil MacKenzie and Conor Trainor.
"The Italians have a very good scrum and very good set-pieces generally, and the physical battle is an area they pride themselves on. We will have to step up to try and disrupt their drive and their scrum," Crowley said.
It will be a trip home for Italy's Robert Barbieri, who was born in Toronto "but was one who definitely got away," Rees said. Barbieri, 27, is a 6-foot-1, 238-pound flanker who has played 22 games for Italy.
"Hopefully, Rugby Canada is a different organization and has learned from its mistakes. They didn't keep him in a red jersey."
Barbieri learned the rudiments of the game in Canada. He played for the Yeomen side from 2000 to 2003, but has played the past nine years in Italy, where a pro league existed and there was greater chance for advancement and to make money as a professional.
Barbieri played for Parma from 2003 to 2007 and for Treviso since 2007. The first game in which he represented Italy was June 9, 2006. It was the day his brother Michael – who chose to stay in Canada – was also earning his first international cap for Canada in Toronto against the England Saxons.