April 15
Old Glory DC 22 v Utah Warriors 21 @ Segra Field 5pm PT
DC are last in the East at 0-9. Luke Campbell starts at #8 and Jake Ilnicki is in the reserves at prop.
Canada claimed 7 series points at home, one of their best results of the season, and the best result with all the teams attending. They claimed 10 points at the Malaga, Spain tournament but Fiji, NZ and Samoa were absent.
[ed. I remember when Francois Ratier ran the women’s XVs, he would always get in touch when holding a camp on the Island. His open style of communication was refreshing and of course Canada went on to win silver at the 2014 World Cup under his direction. Now it’s more of a closed shop, no training schedule, no advance notice to media, no photo ops.]
from Rugby Canada
Rugby Canadas Senior Womens 15s squad is currently in the midst of a week-long Top-40 training camp on Vancouver Island.
Rugby Canada released their 58 player list for the East v West camp taking place this week in Guelph, Ontario. The RC press release is appended below. It’s interesting to breakdown the BC numbers.
from BCRU
The final round of regular season fixtures now played, close to 30 Clubs have booked their spots in the BC Rugby Senior League Playoffs with some mouth-watering clashes coming up over the next few weeks.
In the “about time” department, a Canadian player and coach has been named to the senior men’s coaching team. It’s as assistant coach but hopefully it’s just a matter of time before he takes over the top job in sevens. Next step will be to name an assistant XVs coach to take over Kingsley’s job when he leaves.
April 9
Toronto Arrows 32 v Old Glory DC 27 @ York Lions Stadium 9am PT
Toronto are 4th in the East at 4-4. It’s an all Canadian front row this week with Keith, McRogers and Rowland. Second row is Mike Sheppard and Paul Ciulini, loose forward Kyle Baillie and James O’Neill. Riley de Nardo starts at scrum half, an all Canadian backline with du Toit, Richardson in the centres, Voralek and Sheridan on the wings and McCann at fullback. A season high 13 Canadian starters. On the bench Quattrin, Rumball, Nott, McRorie, Jones, Kelly.
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…