Canada ran out to their worst result this season finishing last, tied with Scotland for 15th/16th place. They receive only one series point. Fiji won the tournament defeating NZ in the final.
This is the final week of the regular season and the quarter-final matchup possibilities are coming into focus. UBC will finish #1 and will host either JBAA or Lomas. The 2nd/3rd place battle is a little more murky as the BCRU has CW and Ravens tied on Points Ratio .833 [ed. BCRU have now removed the standings table] but CW listed at 24 points and Ravens at 21 points apparently due to a points reduction in a Ravens match, an action that’s being contested by the Ravens. It’s likely the winner of the CW v Ravens match will finish in 2nd pending any competition committee decisions. Burnaby and Capilano are vying for 4th/5th, again complicated by the uneven schedule. UVic looks good for 6th, Rowers 7th and Bays and Lomas battling it out for 8th.
from Mike Devlin
BLRC on the road to Kamloops by Simon Smoldon
This past Saturday the 1st Div Men & Women of the BLRC boarded the 6am bus to Kamloops for 2 highly anticipated games of rugby at the fantastic new clubhouse & fields that the Raiders have set up. For many of our new players this was a 1st time experience & many were in awe at the landscape & vistas that the locals take for granted…
by Peter MacDonald
A tough game against the Pride went the Ravens way at the end but the Pride gained big respect for taking the game to the Ravens all day long. With the score tied 17-17, and five minutes left, the Ravens fullback Aaron McLelland was served up a room service high clearing kick which he fielded centrally 35 metres out from the Pride line. Moving right and scanning things he made a gap and it was sayonara as he took a direct line at top speed to score the winning try. The Pride could have tied it up three minutes later but for a saving tackle by fly half Jesper Mellish so the Ravens ran out winners in a game that the Pride controlled for much of the day.
April 1
Utah Warriors 25 v San Diego Legion 40 @ Zions Bank Stadium 7pm PT
Utah in 6th place in the West have no Canadians in the roster.
San Diego, second in the West, feature Michael Smith as starting openside with Jason Higgins as reserve scrum half.
Michael Smith was the top tackler in the game with 22 tackles made.
We were 5 for 5 on the predictions this week putting us at 31 out of 37 for the season and 84 %, up from 81% last week.
[ed. good to hear from Jamie Cudmore again. Also kudos to them for putting out their long list, hint, hint, BC.]
The Atlantic Selects, Atlantic Canada’s renewed high performance Men’s Rugby team, announced today their 2nd ever match. The team was founded in the fall of 2021 to help rebuild high performance Rugby in Atlantic Canada, and travelled to Toronto in October to play the Toronto Arrows.
from Capilano Rugby
Caps welcome Nanaimo RFC
Caps always enjoy playing Nanaimo Hornets. The Snowcaps likewise enjoy playing the Yous to Bees over 40s. The two clubs have much in common and several ex Capilano players have played for the Hornets. Someone said to me yesterday it looks like an inter squad game. Both teams wear similar colours and the rivalry is strong but respectful! Capilanos are sad to see Nanaimo out of the Premier Division and hope to see them back in soon. The last time I remember them visiting they played a great game at the Premier level and the game was won by Caps at the final whistle by a Jeremy Simon drop kick. That was a classic game and todays first division match was a cracker also! I will defer to my colleague Steve Feenstra to report on that game. Also it is great to have Jayne Isherwood cover the Womens action as well. It is too big a job for one person and we are far better covered now.
[ed. I’ve added another letter from John Lecky, his comments can be viewed in this .pdf document.]
Not that I particularly wanted to resurrect this as, I think, most have given up on Rugby Canada and just want to concentrate on grassroots rugby, club rugby and supporting provincial rugby. However I did say I would publish this open letter from Chris Le Fevre to the Chair of Rugby Canada, Sally Dennis. Chris Le Fevre is a former Rugby Canada board member and was also on the iRB (World Rugby) Executive Council. The letter is posted below (as an image).
by Mike Devlin
BLRC First Division Men 61 James Bay 6
The Burnaby Lake First Division are really hitting their stride of late.