Williams answers Canada's SOS

Morgan Williams: Comes out of retirement

Retired Canada scrum-half Morgan Williams is set to come out of retirement for the Canucks' warm-up fixture against Portugal on Saturday, before the team embark on a gruelling crusade with Tests against Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

With all the players now assembled in Lisbon, Williams fills the gap left by the injured Phil Mack to take on the Portuguese.

The move, according to Canada coach Kieran Crowley, was necessary as Ed Fairhurst is still with his club side Cornish Pirates and young Sean White is possibly not ready for such a big first outing.

Crowley said it was an easy decision to make.

"Absolutely," said the New Zealander.

"He (Williams) is still very fit and plays every weekend with his club James Bay - and when you look at how he played at the World Cup last year, it is a very easy decision to come to."

Crowley admits that the first Test match of a four-match tour can be critical to how the trip overall will go.

Nonetheless, he is proud of the tough November schedule Canada is undertaking - which he feels is easily the most ambitious schedule of all the touring Test nations.

"It's great and it's a great opportunity for the guys," said Crowley.

"It is certainly going to tell us where we are at on the world scene. It's different than in a World Cup year because you can focus and aim for it from a couple of years out."

The real balancing act is having ten players who have not played Test rugby before - and Crowley is confident the process will serve them well to prepare for the Test on Saturday.

Among the new faces is scrum-half White, Newfoundland duo Frank Walsh (prop) and Andrew Fagan (flank), Dan Gordon (centre), fly-half Matt Evans as well as flanker Jason Marshall, to name a few.

Crowley says the fact that there are players on this tour that were not in the 2007 World Cup will allow him to get a certain measure of his team as it heads toward New Zealand and the World Cup in 2011.