[ed. Amanda will be writing a few articles for BCRN this summer before returning to VIU to continue her studies. She’s also writing articles for BC Grassroots Rugby during their summer schedule. Her first assignment was to write an article introducing herself. You can reach her at whipple@bcrugbynews.com]
The men’s side of the Olympic 7s wrapped up today with Fiji repeating as Gold medalists, defeating NZ in the final. Argentina, the surprise team of the tournament, won Bronze defeating Great Britain.
The MLR season is close to wrapping up with the semis taking place this weekend. On Saturday it will be the East final with NY @ Atlanta. Quinn Ngawati is on the wing for NY and Matt Heaton will be openside for Atlanta, Conor Keys is in the reserves for Atlanta.
Thunder Indigenous Rugby are on the road in July and August holding camps in Prince Rupert, Shawnigan, Capilano, Abbotsford, Kamloops and Prince George. Although focused on identifying Indigenous athletes all aspiring rugby players are welcome to join in. The camps are free. Youth attending need to be covered by the BCRU/RC insurance, either through their local rugby club or by signing up for the BCRU/RC insurance as a Thunder player. More details and camp signup can be found at: https://thunderrugby.ca/index.php/thunder-rugby-bc-tour-august-16-23-2021/
With the playoff picture set, the last week of the regular season had some upsets as playoff teams rested key players.
Congratulations to Nate on being selected to share the flag bearing duties for Canada at the Olympics.
BCRN: Hi Brian, I understand you’ve started a new venture called The Off-Field Rugby Coach, could you give us an overview of the concept?
We dropped by the West camp on Sunday to watch the players go through their paces and have a light scrimmage.
We posted 35 photos on our other site at: http://nationalrugbynews.com/index.php/womens-xvs-western-camp-july-11-2021/.
I had a chance to meet Doug Sturrock the other day and chat about history and rugby. He is the BCRU official historian and was author of the book “It’s a Try! The History of Rugby in Canada”.
There’s one week left in the MLR regular season but the playoff picture is already set. LA will go through as West winners and Utah as #2, Austin can’t catch either team and will finish 3rd.