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Anscombe’s 29-man squad for the ARC, which runs Feb. 3 to March 3, contains just six of his starting 15 against Samoa in November as well as six of the reserves from that day.

Injuries are another stumbling block. But given much of the Canadian player pool is amateur, so are work and school.

“It’s very frustrating,” Anscombe said of the selection headaches. “It’s the reality of amateur rugby.

“Where I come from (in New Zealand), if you’re considering someone for an international, he’s a professional rugby player so there’s no question he’s available and he’s going to jump at the opportunity.

“But here the guys are amateur. They play club rugby and they go to school and they work. To take five weeks off to go and do something in a lot of cases is not their No. 1 priority.”

That is one of the reasons Anscombe has selectedan extended 29-man ARC squad, which will be trimmed for the final two road games.

Canada, ranked 18th in the world, opens Feb. 4 against a second-tier Argentina ‘A’ side at Westhills Stadium in Langford, B.C., a game that does not have test status.

The next four games for the Canadians are all test matches: against No. 29 Chile on Feb. 11 in Langford, the 17th-ranked U.S. on Feb. 18 in Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, B.C., and road matches Feb. 25 against No. 21 Uruguay and March 4 against No. 36 Brazil.

Anscombe’s squad includes nine uncapped players: Beukeboom, Barton, Cole Keith, Conor Keys, Rory McDonell, Ollie Nott, Reegan O’Gorman, Carl Pocock and Robbie Povey