from Rugby Canada
In their first home international test match in seven years, Canadas Senior Womens 15s beat No. 6-ranked Italy 34-24 at Starlight Stadium in Langford, BC on Sunday as their Journey to the Rugby World Cup continued.
Japan, Wales and Canada can breath a little easier this summer as there will be no relegation of core teams this season. Previously there were to be two teams relegated in the men’s competition, Japan looked a certainty for relegation at 26 points, Wales were next in line at 31 points while Canada looked on nervously at 34 points. It was all coming down to the LA tournament in August to solve the puzzle. The drama has vanished as Wales has merged with Scotland and England to become team Great Britain for next season. There will be no relegation this season and Canada are confirmed as a core team for next season.
King Edward VI school is touring BC and one of their matches will be against the Vancouver Island Tide, U16 and U18 teams. A quick google search shows there are several King Edward Schools (KES) in the UK – in Birmingham, Southampton and Stratford. The Southampton and Stratford schools have visited the Island before. It’s the Stratford school which is visiting this year. King Edward School in Stratford-upon-Avon is where William Shakespeare went to school in the 1570’s. Likely a half back of some sort if rugby were available at the time, always verbose and questioning on field decisions, “To be or not to be? Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune?” – definitely not a forward.
There are a couple of club hosted 7s tournaments coming up in August. On August 13th is the Bayside 7s hosted by the Bayside Rugby Club and on August 20th is the Westshore 7s hosted by the Westshore Rugby Club.
There’s a youth rugby camp this Friday at the EMCS high school field in Sooke, 9am to noon. The camp is run by BC Grassroots Rugby and one of their high profile coaches, Djustice Sears-Duru, will be there. Also some members of the women’s XVs program will be in attendance as they prepare to face Italy on Sunday in Langford.
Canada lost their last match of the tournament to host Netherlands 23-15. The Netherlands went ahead early with a try and a penalty for an 8-0 lead. Canada replied with two tries for a 12-8 lead at the half. The teams exchanged penalties early in the second half for a 15-11 scoreline in Canada’s favour. The Netherlands closed out the game with two tries to win 23-15.
Burnaby Lake Rugby Club are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic, driven and talented 1st Division Head Coach to work within the Senior Mens program.
It wasn’t pretty and the result renewed questions on when Canada are going to make changes to the leadership of the men’s program. The team look demoralized and the intensity of a test match was missing, especially in the first 40 when Canada absorbed a 40-13 pounding.
Canada placed two players on the MLR 2nd XV team, missing out on the 1st XV and the honorable mentions. Cole Keith was selected loosehead prop and Andrew Coe on the wing. Neither player was in the match 23 against Belgium last weekend.
from World Rugby
World Rugby is calling for research grant applications to help broaden understanding about the impact of the use of artificial surfaces at all levels of the sport.