In a quirk of fate the IRB North America 4 Championship and Consolation finals will not only be a repeat of those in the inaugural tournament in 2006, but also of the last match day in the round robin stages earlier this week.
On both occasions Canada West and Canada East came out on top against their American counterparts the Falcons and Hawks respectively, and on home soil in Abbotsford, British Columbia, they will be hoping to repeat the feat on Saturday.
Canada West were crowned the inaugural North America 4 champions after a 31-20 defeat of the USA Falcons, with Canada East finishing third after a more convincing 34-18 victory over the USA Hawks.
The defending champions had to come from behind to strike a psychological blow on the Falcons with a 13-11 victory in Burnaby on Tuesday, a result that means their American rivals have now lost two matches in a row on the Canadian leg of the tournament.
Until arriving in British Columbia the Falcons sat atop the standings with an unbeaten record from the previous three rounds, but that run ended surprisingly against Canada East last weekend – a side without a win in 2007 until that afternoon in Vancouver.
World Cup places up for grabs
They therefore will be looking to bounce back to winning ways and end the tournament on a high with a repeat of the 29-13 victory they enjoyed over Canada West in round three in California, handing the champions their first defeat of 2007.
The same though is true of the USA Hawks after losses to both Canadian outfits over the last seven days, results which saw them finish bottom of the standings with only one victory in five – ironically 36-23 over Canada East on 12 May.
If they are to avoid another fourth place finish – they lost 34-18 to Canada East in the Consolation final in 2006 – then they will have to start better than they did in Burnaby on Tuesday evening and not give their opponents a 21-0 lead inside 15 minutes.
A brace from Ciaran Hearn either side of Dean van Camp’s try, together with three conversions from fly half Steve Piatek, set a rejuvenated Canada East on the way to victory and on target to end the tournament with three wins in a row.
There is though more than just the North America 4 title at stake, with players across the teams hoping to impress national coaches Ric Suggitt and Peter Thorburn enough to force their way into the respective Canada and USA Eagles squads for Rugby World Cup 2007.
