HALIFAX — Canada won its final Rugby World Cup warm-up game on Canadian soil after beating the Glasgow Warriors 19-12 Saturday afternoon.
Jamie Cudmore, who captained the side, Matt Evans and former Warriors player DTH Van Der Merwe scored tries. Nathan Hirayama kicked two conversions.
Glenn Bryce and Junior Bulumakau had tries for Glasgow.
"I thought the boys played really well," Canada’s head coach Kieran Crowley said. "Defensively they were outstanding. We got a couple of opportunities which we took, probably left a couple of scores out there too, but I’m very pleased.
"They certainly dug in and it was nice to get over the line for a change."
Bryce gave the Warriors an early lead as he crossed over in the corner just four minutes in. Canada responded as former Warriors centre Connor Braid blasted through the Glasgow line to get the Canadians on the front foot.
Canada got its reward in the 16th minute when Cudmore, who missed the entire Pacific Nations Cup due to injury, powered over from a few meters out with Hirayama kicking the conversion for a 7-5 lead.
Hirayama had a chance to increase the lead in the 23rd minute but his penalty just missed.
Five minutes later, Nanyak Dala broke through the Warriors defensive line before offloading to Phil Mack, who found a supporting Hearn with a pass. Hearn then found Evans, who powered over the line with two tacklers holding on. Hirayama added the extras for a 14-5 Canada lead.
Rory Clegg was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes in the 37th minute but Canada couldn’t add to their lead despite the man advantage.
Bryce had an open lane to the corner in the 46th minute but Jeff Hassler made a cover tackle to push him out of bounds only a metre from the line.
The Warriors got their second try in the 71st minute. Scott Wight’s conversion cut the Canadian lead to 14-12 with nine minutes to play.
Canada sealed its first win of the summer in the 77th minute when van der Merwe scored in the far corner.
"We’ve done a lot of hard work and we’ve been playing pretty well but we needed a win to get some momentum and some confidence for what we’re trying to do," Crowley said.
Canada heads to the United Kingdom Sunday where they will play two more warm-up games against Georgia and Fiji.