Author Archive: MarkB

SVNS 3 Tournament – January 2026

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A Look at the 13 Representing Canada in Dubai for the SVNS 3 Tournament

Apparently the squad announcement will be officially coming out tomorrow but we understand these are the selections for the SVNS 3 tournament in Dubai which kicks off on Saturday (late Friday in BC). Kal Sager makes his return to the 7s program after winning Gold with the Guelph team at the University championships. Other big flanker/centre, go-forward types on the team include UVic’s Adam Doane, UBC’s Takoda McMullin, Lockie Kratz, Westshore’s Elias Hancock. There’s speed out wide with Josiah Morra, Jack Shaw, Morgan di Nardo, Johnny Franklin, Ian Jones. The play makers include Thomas Isherwood, Ethan Turner, Brenden Black. Captain Lockie Kratz brings both the play maker and physical go forward roles to the team.

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BCRU logo 2024

BC Rugby Standings – January 2026

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BC Rugby Season Resumes This Weekend: A Look at the Standings in All Divisions

The BC Rugby leagues resume this weekend, except for the Premier which restarts the following weekend, January 24th. We look at some of the races in the Div 1 to Div 3 space. In Men’s Div 1 the Vancouver Rowing Club are undefeated with 3 Island clubs in close pursuit, UVic, Westshore and Nanaimo. There was some talk of VRC returning to the Premier next season and a top Div 1 finish would back their claim. Langley who also have declared their intention of going up to Premier next season are in 12th place and will need to refocus in the 2nd half of the season. This weekend the Rowers host the winless Ravens, Langley host Capilano, UVic host Comox and Abby host Lomas.

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Coral Coast Fiji 7s 2026

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Coral Coast Fiji 7s Kicks Off January 15th: One Canadian Team Entered

The Coral Coast 7s may be one of the top international 7s tournaments outside the World Rugby SVNS series. It’s based in Fiji and this year there are top teams from Fiji, NZ, Australia, Japan, GB and USA. There’s one team from BC, the Pacific Warriors, who are mostly a Fijian-Canadian team. They won all the major 7s summer tournaments in BC in 2025, the Bayside 7s, the Bula 7s and the Westshore 7s. They’ll be in tough competition in Fiji however, they’re in a pool (Pool F) with two Fijian teams and an Australian Fijian team. Highlighting Pool A are the Fijian Babas, Pool B NZ Development, Pool C the USA 7s team, Pool D Aussie Selects and Pool E Japan SDS. Mike Friday has a Select 7s team that has an all star roster, that includes Terry Kennedy, Harry McNulty and Jordan Conroy from Ireland, Perry Baker from USA, Luke Treharne from Wales and a host of top Fijian players including Jerry Tuwai. We’ll try to get the Pacific Warriors roster to add to this article.

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European Champions and Challenge Cup Updates

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Updates on the European Champions and Challenge Cup with One Pool Round Remaining

There’s one more pool round in the European Champions and Challenge Cup before the Round of 16 starts in April. We’ll be especially watching Castres (Tyler Ardron) and Montpellier (Tyler Duguid). Castres are in the Champions Cup but sit at the bottom of their pool, they’ll need a win in Munster next weekend to have a chance of a top 4 finish and advancement to the Round of 16. If they finish 5th they drop to the Challenge Cup and if 6th, they’re out. Montpellier are in the Challenge Cup and top their pool, they play tomorrow (Sunday) and have a good chance of remaining #1 seed in their pool.

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100 Years Ago Today

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What Was the Sporting/Rugby News 100 Years Ago in Victoria on January 9th 1926

Normally Friday is reserved for the BC Premier prediction and rosters article but since the BC Premier is still 2 weeks away and the schedule for any rugby in BC is still a week away, on a whim I’ve decided to take the time machine back 100 years ago to the day. What was happening in rugby on January 9th 1926, and on a larger scale what were the sports headlines?

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Players in the News – January 2026

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Chloe Daniels Signs With Bristol Bears in the PWR: Brings Total to 25 Canadian Players in English Pro League

Chloe Daniels is the latest Canadian 7s/XVs player to join the Premiership Women’s Rugby competition in England. She’ll be joining Holly Phillips and Pam Buisa in Bristol. Bristol are currently in 8th place in the standings, the league restarts on January 30th. Daniels was a member of the Canadian 7s Olympic team that won Silver in 2024. She went to Queen’s University to play in the 2024-25 USports season but picked up an ACL injury which put her into an extended period of recovery. She was awarded the Queen’s “Outstanding Performance of the Year” in April 2025 for exceptional performance on the international stage.

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World Rugby Updates – January 2026

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World Rugby Lists Top 5 Drop Goals of All Time: Was Bobby Ross Just Robbed

World Rugby’s latest video on YouTube is named The Greatest Drop Goals of All Time and as is no surprise it’s dominated by Tier 1 highlights, Dan Carter 2015, Zinzan Brooke 1995, Stephen Larkham 1999, Joel Stransky 1995, and at #1 Jonny Wilkinson 2003. NZ, Australia, South Africa and England, not surprising from a panel made up of 3 Aussies.

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Rugby Canada Updates – January 2026

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Rugby Canada Seeks Expressions of Interest for Coaching International Age-Grade Women’s Sevens

Rugby Canada has put out a request for Expressions of Interest from qualified coaches for several age-grade women’s 7s tournaments in 2026. The three tournaments mentioned are:

  • The Youth Olympic Games in Senegal
  • FISU World University Championships in South Africa
  • EAAST 7s in France

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Canadians in France

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Two Canadian Players at the Nissa Rugby Academy in France with Coach Jamie Cudmore

I had a chance to talk to Jamie Cudmore briefly on Saturday as he was waiting in the Toronto airport to head back to France after spending the holiday season in Newfoundland. He’s a coach at the Nissa Rugby Academy in Nice, France. He was eager to talk about the two Canadian players at the Academy, Joe Kaufmann and Eliot Marschall. Both were part of the Canada U18 camps in 2024 and Kaufmann was on the Canada U20 team in 2025. We were talking about pathways and Jamie spoke about the need to get Canadian players into Tier 1 academies at an earlier age, in this case specifically academies in France. Jamie has worked in France for many years as an elite player and coach and has a deep understanding of the French system with many contacts. I mused that it would be good to have a pathway from Canadian academies to French academies and Jamie indicated that when he was at the Pacific Pride he was working on making that happen.

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