There will be no major overhaul after all. Canada has sprung a surprise with only three changes to the side that lost to Japan in San Jose, all in the pack. Major changes had been expected with a vastly different team used in training, but head coach Kieran Crowley has instead opted to keep the majority of the side intact for Friday’s match against Tonga at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia.

As expected Aaron Carpenter and Andrew Tiedemann start in the front row, but the second row remains the same. John Moonlight comes in on the flank in place of Thyssen de Goede, with Richard Thorpe switching to the no6 jersey.

Ray Barkwill is not in the match day squad with Benoît Pifféro selected as reserve hooker, and Doug Wooldridge covering tighthead prop. Tyler Hotson also drops out, as Kyle Gilmour is added and Callum Morrison moves up one to cover second row.

Canada have beaten Tonga in five out of seven meetings between the two, including the last four consecutively. Their last match was in Kingston, Ontario, won by Canada 36-27 in a game riddled with penalties and foul play resulting in three yellow cards and a red card to Tongan prop Eddie Aholelei.

CANADA

1 Hubert Buydens 2 Aaron Carpenter 3 Andrew Tiedemann 4 Brett Beukeboom 5 Jon Phelan 6 Richard Thorpe 7 John Moonlight 8 Tyler Ardron (capt.) 9 Gordon McRorie 10 Liam Underwood 11 DTH van der Merwe 12 Connor Braid 13 Ciaran Hearn 14 Jeff Hassler 15 Matt Evans

16 Benoît Pifféro 17 Djustice Sears-Duru 18 Doug Wooldridge 19 Callum Morrison 20 Kyle Gilmour 21 Phil Mack 22 Nathan Hirayama 23 Phil Mackenzie