Australia and Canada 2 have both suffered the bitter taste of defeat, tempered by bouncing back to record a victory that earns them the right to fight for fifth place at the 2024 IFAF U20 World Junior Championships. The two nations clash at 4pm at Clarke Stadium in Edmonton on Sunday, June 30,
Canada 2 was beaten 41-13 by Austria in the tournament’s opening game, then recorded a convincing 63-7 win over Brazil on Wednesday.
“After losing that first game we realized that we’re not going to be medaling anymore so now we’re just playing for pride,” said wide receiver Cesare Rednour-Bruckman, who scored two touchdowns in the win. “We’re playing for Canada; we’re playing for the name on the front of our jersey.”
Watch live. Team Canada 1 vs Team Australia, July 1 00:00 CET (12 midnight, 6 pm June 30 EDT)
Dual quarterbacks Josh page and Elijah Barnes threw for five combined touchdowns against Brazil, while Samuel Macieria is the tournament’s top kick returner after two games. Kicker Samuel Tremblay has made all 9 extra points attempted.
Australia lost 50-6 to Japan in their opener then put 21 unanswered points past Panama as a resilient defense refused to break in protecting the shutout.
Wide receiver Ben Heath’s 254 all-purpose yards rank third overall with a tournament second-best 189 receiving yards and 62 yards from the return game. Defensively Harrison Pratt is the competition’s second leading tackler with a total of 11.5.
Wide receiver Mason Field, who caught 5 passes for 50 yards against Brazil, including the touchdown that doubled his team’s lead knows Australia face a tough task against Canada 2.
“They’re obviously incredible opposition so we’ll enjoy this (win over Brazil) for a little bit and then we’ll get back to work. We’ll get in the film room and do absolutely everything we can to be prepared and go again.”