Quinnell times his exit

Wales 32 Canada 21

In the end it was a poor send-off for one of Wales's great servants, the gargantuan Llanelli back row Scott Quinnell, who has finally called time on a distinguished international career.

But he would have wished for a better finish to his 52nd cap than this error-strewn, erratic showing by Wales. Canada recovered from a shaky start and, thanks to the boot of their fly-half Jared Barker, dragged themselves back into the match and left Wales with more questions than answers as they run up towards their meeting with New Zealand on Saturday.

The game followed the pattern of the previous week, in that Wales generally bided their time in the opening stages, content to let the Canadians batter themselves up a dead end or fall foul of the Italian referee, which they did half a dozen times in the opening 12 minutes, three of which were well within Stephen Jones' range and he landed the lot.

The Welsh scrum looked solid, posing so many problems for the visitors that the captain, Colin Charvis, even opted for a penalty scrum at one point. Unfortunately, that decision backfired when the Welsh eight were penalised for an infringement.

It was a scrum infringement by Canada that cost them the services of their Wales-based loose head, Rod Snow, for dipping his shoulder as he engaged. The Newport prop was dismissed to the sin-bin and shortly afterwards came Wales's first try.

It was also a first for the hooker Robin McBryde, who was on the end of a neat movement involving backs and forwards alike, a lesson to the Canadians in handling skills, because even outside the pack there was a messy look to the way the Canadians were handling things, including the ball, although their first serious foray into the Welsh half had seen them win a penalty, converted by Barker. The fly-half, who came into this match boasting a 94 per cent success rate with his goal-kicks, overtook Stephen Jones in the match kicking stakes when he effortlessly knocked over three further penalties on Canada's second, third and fourth visits upfield, as Wales momentarily lost concentration and a bit of discipline.

But they did wake up before the half was over, reasserting their superiority at the set-piece and in broken play as they launched some sharp attacks that took them well into the Canadian 22. The last of which, a break by Gareth Thomas, eventually resulted in a scrum, which again saw the Canadians penalised and, on the stroke of half-time, Stephen Jones eased Wales into a double-figure lead.

The indiscipline returned immediately after the interval, though, Gareth Llewellyn receiving a yellow card after tackling a player when Canada took a quick penalty. Barker punished the error.

Wales conceded another penalty after falling offside on their 22 and suddenly, with Barker doing his stuff, Canada were right back in it. Wales pulled back with a penalty of their own, but there was a steelier look to the Canadians and better organisation up front now and the Welsh defence was probed constantly for several minutes at a time.

At the height of this came the emotional arrival of Quinnell in the 56th minute, replacing his Llanelli club-mate Dafydd Jones. Remarkably Quinnell's entry into the contest did seem to galvanise Wales and they pressed into enemy territory. But silly mistake was piled on to crass error and not until the 67th minute did Jamie Robinson latch on to an inside pass from Mark Jones and dive over for a face-saving and match-saving second try of the game. Stephen Jones converted.

Canada still did not give up. Their scrum-half Morgan Williams' final act of defiance before being replaced was to land a drop goal in the 74th minute. For Wales there was one typical, surging run from Quinnell, but sadly it ended in Wales being penalised.

At least Wales had the consolation of not conceding a try, but their discipline will have to be addressed before they tackle the All Blacks.

Wales 32 Canada 21
Tries: McBryde, Robinson Pens: Barker 6
Cons: S Jones 2 Drop: M Williams
Pens: S Jones 6

Half-time: 22-12 Attendance: 30,000

Wales: R Williams (Cardiff); M Jones (Llanelli), J Robinson (Cardiff), S Parker (Pontypridd), G Thomas (Bridgend); S Jones (Llanelli), D Peel (Llanelli); I Thomas (Llanelli), R McBryde (Llanelli), B Evans (Swansea), V Cooper (Llanelli), G Llewellyn (Neath), D Jones (Llanelli), C Charvis (Swansea, capt), M Williams (Cardiff). Replacements: M Owen (Pontypridd) for Cooper, 53; S Quinnell (Llanelli) for D Jones, 56; R Powell (Cardiff) for Peel, 72; I Harris (Cardiff) for S Jones, 72.

Canada: W Stanley (James Bay); S Fauth (Castaway Wanderers), N Witkowski (James Bay), J Cannon (Rotherham), F Asselin (James Bay); J Barker (RC d'Arras), M Williams (Saracens); R Snow (Newport), P Dunkley (James Bay, capt), J Thiel (Bridgend), J Tait (Cardiff), M James (Stade Français), R Banks (Burnaby Lake), P Murphy (Perpignan), A van Staveren (Bayside). Replacements: K Tkachuk (Oxford University) for Van Staveren, 29-35; L Carlson (Ex-Brits) for Tait, 70; E Fairhurst (University of Victoria) for Williams, 75; M di Girolamo (James Bay) for Cannon, 71.

Referee: G de Santis (Italy).