Thanks to Peter Muirhead who put together these league tables for the weekend of February 8th 2025. He’s included a playoff “snapshot” which will be updated each week as the standings change.
Georgia, Spain, Portugal and Romania have all qualified for the RWC 2027 after weekend action that saw the countries secure semi-final spots in the European Championships. There are now 8 places left in the expanded 24 team World Cup in Australia. Those spots available are Pacific 1 to 3, Africa 1, Asia 1, South America 1, South America/Pacific playoff winner, Repechage winner.
The cold February weather has wreaked havoc on the BC Premier schedule with municipal fields closing. Jericho Park, Connaught Park and Windsor Park all unavailable. The turf at Starlight Stadium is still a go with the Pride hosting Westshore. The UVic v JBAA game was a late cancellation due to field conditions. The women’s Premier game in Seattle vs UBC is still on.
A few rugby mentions on this chilly Thursday on the west coast. Locally there have been a number of game cancellations for this weekend with chilly weather predicted. Most of the pitches are owned by the municipality and largely those decisions are made by the parks & recreation departments with consultation with the rugby clubs. All the Mainland Premier games have been cancelled at the time of writing, the Ravens at Jericho Park, and the Lomas at Connaught Park are cancelled. On the Island UBC @ CW at Windsor Park has been cancelled. The Pride v Westshore game on the turf at Starlight Stadium is still showing a go at the time of writing, as is the JBAA v UVic game at Wallace Field.
Today’s guest author, Monty Weatherall, has a unique rugby background that gives weight to his opinion on the BC Premier league. He played for Wasps Academy in England growing up, then attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec where he completed a BA in International Development and Entrepreneurship. He played on the McGill University team for 4 years, and was captain in his final year when the team won silver at the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship (CUMRC). He then moved to BC to play for the Meraloma rugby club in the BC Premier. He worked full time while pursuing his rugby ambitions and in his words “was well supported by the club”. He was later drafted by the Toronto Arrows of the MLR, he made preparations to move to Toronto but when the franchise ceased operation he made a last minute decision to return to the UK and go to Law school. He obtained a post graduate law degree and currently works in Mental Health law and is on the path to qualifying as a Barrister. As he noted, “moving back to Canada is always on my mind, and I will see where a career in Law will take me.”
On a sunny, cool, Lunar New Year’s Saturday this friendly rivalry produced a parade of tries and a snaky twist in the dying seconds to produce a tie, three points to each team and much respect to the improved UBC squad. It is tough to win when you are emphatically losing your set scrums and that was the case for the Ravens who were regularly owned by the UBC pack throughout the game.
There were 19 Canadians in action in Round 16 of the Premiership Women’s Rugby in England. Krissy Scurfield (2T), Gillian Boag (1T), Claire Gallagher (1T), Rori Wood (1T) scored tries for their sides. The results and standings are listed below.
Thanks to Peter Muirhead who put together these league tables for the weekend of February 1st 2025. He’s included a playoff “snapshot” which will be updated each week as the standings change.
The BC Premier season resumed for the “spring” season with all 10 teams in action. It was a week for the home teams as they won 3 of the 4 matches, with other a draw for the home side. The Capilano v Vikes game was cancelled as Klahanie Park was closed by West Vancouver Parks & Recreation.
Vancouver 7s announced the schedule for the 3 day tournament. The men are playing an exhibition series against Trinidad & Tobago and Japan as part of the tournament. Canada will face each team twice over the tournament, playing them Friday and Saturday. The women start their tournament on Friday at 3:28pm against Brazil, then face Spain at 8:58pm. Their final pool game is at 3:08pm on Saturday, the women’s quarter-finals start at 7:32pm on Saturday.