This is actually an improvement for Canada, replacing a Barbarians match with a full test match against a higher ranked opponent. Spain are ranked 15th, Canada are ranked 21st. Canada’s opponent on July 2nd will be 27th ranked Belgium.
Canada West have named their 28 player travelling roster for next week’s Coast to Coast tournament. The tournament starts Saturday May 28th with Canada West playing Tuesday May 31st and Saturday June 4th.
There are 3 weeks left in the regular season, the top 3 teams in each division go into the playoff round with the 1st place team getting a bye into the division final.
The women had a fairly successful tournament to end the series, finishing in 6th place. They defeated rivals USA in the 5th place semi but lost to France in the 5th place final. The women finish the series in 7th place.
The Rugby Canada AGM recently took place, the financials and annual report are listed below along with the Rugby Canada media release.
There are two new Directors, Lauren Wolman (Toronto, ON) and Sandy Donald (Brandon, MB). Bill Webb of the Toronto Arrows resigned.
It was only a matter of time before an international coach the quality of Damian McGrath found his way back on the World Rugby 7s Series. When Rugby Canada terminated him for murky political reasons, he went to Germany to work with their 7s program and achieved some positive results but, due to COVID, never got to complete the qualification tournament to get Germany on the World 7s Series.
May 13
New England Free Jacks 15 v Rugby ATL 10 @ Veterans Memorial Stadium
New England are 1st in the East and have already qualified for the playoffs. Josh Larsen starts at second row.
Atlanta are 3rd in the East. Matt Heaton starts at openside and Cole Davis gets his first start for Atlanta on the wing. Conor Keys is in the reserves.
The American Raptors started strong going up 12-0. The Island had their share of ball and line breaks but a lack of precision with dropped passes and balls stripped in contact denied them any points. It was a defensive effort, by Gabe Casey, that led to their first try when he intercepted an ambitious wide pass by the Raptors inside their 22. It was converted 12-7 Raptors.
The 32 players to travel to NZ for the Pacific Four Tournament have been named. Comparing the list to the team from the November 2021 tour, there’s one outstanding name missing and that’s the #10 Emily Belchos De Goede. She started at fullback in the first test against USA but then started at #10 for the second win against the USA and the win over Wales. She looked like the first choice for #10 going forward. Alex Tessier started at #10 in the first USA match and may be the first choice #10 now, although Taylor Perry (formerly Taylor Black) would be in the running as well.
The BC Club finals are over so in BC the question is, what’s next?
This Saturday the American Raptors are visiting to take on the Canada West team, I’m expecting some PR from Rugby Canada on that soon. The game was going to take place at Starlight Stadium but it’s now been moved to Shawnigan Lake. The Raptors put 100+ points on the Seattle club team last weekend so they have some firepower.