from World Rugby
World Rugby has made the difficult decision to recommend the postponement of Rugby World Cup 2021, scheduled to be hosted in New Zealand between 18 September-16 October, until next year. The recommendation will be considered by the Rugby World Cup Board and World Rugby Executive Committee on 8 and 9 March respectively.
from Canadian Rugby Foundation
The Board of the Canadian Rugby Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeff Chan to the role of Foundation Executive Director. Jeff replaces Clay Panga who will continue to assist with the development of the Canada U 20 program and head up the new British Columbia Grassroots Rugby Foundation that is looking to grow the game amongst young children throughout British Columbia.
With MLR set to start in just over 3 weeks many teams are looking to see what sort of gate revenue they’ll be able to generate. The Old Glory DC franchise in Washington D.C. were relieved to find out their seating capacity will go up to 30% of maximum, meaning they’ll be able to fit over 1,000 people into their home opener. Canadians Doug Fraser, Luke Campbell and Ciaran Hearn play for the franchise.
High School Rugby
We’ve heard that the OFSSA, the Ontario Federation of School Sports, has cancelled spring sports, so no rugby for a second year. There’s been no decision, as far as we know, about BC School Sports. Under current BC Health regulations, sports wouldn’t be possible, there’s the hope that the BC Health authority will loosen up regulations as the weather warms up and COVID numbers go down. It’s a wait and see situation at the moment.
Jamie Cudmore and James Haskell are at the head of a new lobby group called Progressive Rugby according to this article in the Guardian.
Abby Duguid #4 and Daleaka Menin #3 were part of the Loughborough team that knocked off former table leaders Harlequins. Loughborough move up to second place with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs.
The registration poster for the MacDowell Rugby Academy at Cowichan Secondary School is below. The program starts September 2021 and runs until June 2022. There are instructions for CSS students and BC residents, also separate instructions for Out of Province and International students.
Contact Adam Roberts to register at roberts_a@surreyschools.ca.
[ed. comments below]
When I first heard about this my first thought was, only Rugby Canada can create a rugby drama when there’s no rugby. People were messaging and texting, what’s with the women’s rugby 7s program?
Congratulations to Robin MacDowell for getting his Rugby Academy program adopted by the Cowichan Valley School District. It means students in Grades 10-12 will be able to add rugby to their regular classes. The Cowichan Valley School District media release is below.