Cudmore to lead ageing Canadians

They play Six Nations champions and Pool D rivals Ireland in their opening match in Cardiff on Saturday.

The 37-year-old - who becomes the fifth Canadian to play in four World Cup tournaments - stands in for regular skipper Tyler Ardron, who is not part of Canada's matchday squad.

Aaron Carpenter, Nathan Hirayama and DTH Van Der Merwe are playing in their third World Cup, although Hirayama did not play a single minute in 2007.

Canada's starting line-up is on average 29 years and 164 days old.

Canada: 15 Matt Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 DTH Van Der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 John Moonlight, 6 Kyle Gilmour, 5 Jamie Cudmore (captain), 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubery Buydens.

Replacements: 16 Benoit Piffero, 17 Djustics Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Liam Underwood, 23 Conor Trainor.

Date: Saturday, September 19

Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Kick-off: 14.30 (13.30 GMT, 09.30 Canadian time)

Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)

Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)

TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Agence France-Presse