World Rugby announced it’s qualification for the men’s World Cup in 2023 in France. Their media release is appended below.
From a Canadian perspective, the teams Canada traditionally have to get by to qualify as America 1 or 2 are USA and Uruguay. During the previous World Cup cycle Canada lost to both teams and had to head to the repechage which they won to qualify.
One of the interesting studies during the pandemic is how each sport is handling the Return to Play at the national and provincial level.
Rugby Canada quickly went into the committee phase and are now at the survey phase with a decision promised for the end of the month. The national suspension of activity remains in effect. Their latest announcement is appended below.
As we try to calculate when rugby might return in BC we’ll take a look at what’s happening around the world and closer to home.
On the positive side, New Zealand are way ahead of the pack, with good COVID-19 numbers and a national insurance that covers liability issues they’re ready to roll. Professional rugby kicks off this weekend with Super Rugby Aotearoa and Community rugby kicks off June 20th with preseason warmups happening this weekend. The Super Rugby competition in NZ will be the first in the world to let the fans back in the stadiums. A couple of story links below.
We had a chance to record a candid conversation between two top Canadian coaches this week at Shawnigan Lake. We were there shooting some skills videos with Gilbert Canada and Canada 7s star Kayla Moleschi which will be shared at a later date.
from stuff.co.nz
Dan Carter is on the verge of a stunning New Zealand comeback, joining the Blues for Super Rugby Aotearoa as injury cover.
Amateur sports in BC have been waiting for viaSport’s Return to Sport guidelines in order to progress with their individual Return to Play plans.
Graham Brown who was CEO of Rugby Canada from 2002 to 2015 has parted ways with U SPORTS. He left Rugby Canada to take the CEO position with U SPORTS in 2015.
from World Rugby
The World Rugby Executive Committee has approved 10 optional domestic law trials which are designed to provide national member unions with further COVID-19 transmission risk reduction measures if required.
We’ve often said if committee making was an Olympic sport Rugby Canada would win Gold hands down. The latest committee on Return to Play have issued a statement that they will “endeavour to deliver the plan no later than June 30”.
MLR PLayers Attempt to Unionize
GOFF Rugby Report
The United States Rugby Players Association has issued a public call to Major League Rugby to recognize the player union.