Starting in December 2023 there will be only 12 teams in the men’s World Rugby 7s series, reduced from 16. There will then be parity with the women’s series who are currently at 12 teams. Both the men and women will play 7 tournaments over 7 months at “super” events, hosts and dates to be announced in the coming months.
The CUMRC, the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship, kicks off Wednesday. All matches will be streamed by the www.therugbynetwork.com
[ed. photos from the Dunbar Keg match North Island v Fraser Valley can be viewed here.]
The BC Premier has closed down for the Dec/Jan break and it’s the McKechnie Cup and U20 Dunbar Keg regional matches now. It took a while to get the rosters but they’re in now. Vancouver weren’t able to put together a U20 team and the South Island win that match be default.
from BCRU
BOYS TEAM
BC Rugby is delighted to announce the U18 BC Bears Elite Boys 7s squad heading to the 2022 World School Sevens in New Zealand this December.
Henry Paul is leaving the 7s coaching position at Rugby Canada, the Rugby Canada press release says “Rugby Canada has agreed to release Men’s Sevens Head Coach Henry Paul from his contract with immediate effect”. It’s hard to say what actually happened behind the scenes, was he encouraged to terminate the contract, did he see the handwriting on the wall, or does he have something else lined up that aligns better with family?
I was going to write a lengthy article on the McKechnie Cup history today but the hours ran out so I’ll post this article I wrote in 2016 and add to it later in the week. The article, although over 6 years old, has some relevance to today.
from Canadian Press – Neil Davidson
Canadians Sophie de Goede and Emily Tuttosi have been named to World Rugby’s Women’s 15s Dream Team of the Year.
Canada closed out their fall tour with a 43-37 loss to Namibia. Canada were ranked 21st, Namibia 23rd before the match, that may change on Monday when the new rankings are calculated. Hong Kong (24th) also defeated Kenya which may see them rise in the rankings.
[ed. UPDATE: We’ve updated the wording to reflect the Ravens will be appealing so the official status of the Vikes match is unknown at this time. The Ravens weren’t able to show up for their match versus UVic, they’re apparently facing a ban on BC Ferries for a period of time. Excerpt of message from Ravens, “We will be appealing this decision and hope to reschedule the UVIC game for a later date. We will be formulating a response to BC Rugby.” More information when it becomes available.]
An unusual week to finish off the first part of the season, a potential default by the league leading Ravens, otherwise the games were close with a +6 average score. Next weekend sees the McKechnie Cup kickoff with the Pride hosting Fraser Valley and the Island hosting Vancouver. In the U20 Dunbar competition, North Island host Fraser Valley and South Island host Vancouver.
by Mike Devlin
BLRC Premier Reserve Men 45 JBAA 19
The BLRC Premier Reserve Men are on a roll, going 5-0 in the Regional Pre-season tourney and 3-0 since the season began. The squad, led by Tom Menzies, has been undefeated and have shown the ability to put points on the board and play some stingy defence. Theyve had some lop-sided victories and had to hold on to close out tight games. On Saturday, the BLRC ran rough-shod over a young James Bay team. The BLRC were just too big and too fast for James Bay to stop. Nolan Shelley was 100% from the tee, making all 6 conversions and one penalty. The trys were distributed evenly, 3 from the forwards and 3 from the backs.