Author Archive: MarkB

Local Rugby News – January 2025

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Comox Rapids Girls U18 Tour to Scotland “Adopt an Athlete”; UBC Men’s Rugby Advertises for Social Media Manager

A couple of local BC rugby stories caught my eye today. The Comox U18 girls, they won the provincial girls U18 club title last month, will be touring to Scotland in March, and taking in the Scotland v Wales match. They’re playing 3 games while there. What really impressed me with their fundraising effort, “Adopt an Athlete” is the work they put into the player profiles, making it first person and making the rugby jargon easy to understand for non-rugby people. Well done Comox Rapids! Their intro and a link to the player profiles and donation form is posted below.

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England Premiership Women’s Rugby – January 2025

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Round Twelve Results from English Premier: 12 Canadian Players in Action

Rori Wood got her first start at tighthead for Ealing, Tyson Beukeboom was 2nd row, Julia Schell started at #10 for the Trailfinders. Julia Omokhuale started at blindside flanker for Leicester, Claire Gallagher started at fullback for the Tigers. Loughborough had Krissy Scurfield on the wing, she scored two tries, Abby Duguid at second row, Courtney Holtkamp was in the reserves at #19. Saracens had McKinley Hunt as starting loosehead prop, Gabby Senft at #8, Alysha Corrigan on the wing and Maya Montiel as reserve prop.

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Canada U18 Tour to California in January 2020

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A Reflection on the Canada U18 Tour to California in January 2020; A Look at Where Players Are Now

With little rugby happening in BC and Canada right now I thought I’d go back to January 2020 and revisit the Canada U18 tour to California to take on the USA U18 teams and then a couple of touring sides from South Africa. The tour started in December 2019 and finished up in January 2020. The tour included 6 games in total with 4 wins and 2 losses for the Canadian teams.

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Thunder Rugby

Thunder Indigenous Rugby – January 2025

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Thunder Indigenous Rugby 2025 Updates: White Rock Camp in January, Phil Mack Indigenous Player of the Year Applications Open, Thunder to NZ in 2025, Support Thunder with Tax Deductible Donation

A couple of events are coming up in January for the Thunder Indigenous Rugby program. First is a youth rugby camp at White Rock on January 25-26. The registration link is here, you can also email jlyall@thunderrugby.ca

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Canadian Rugby Influencers on Social Media

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Who Are the Top Canadian Rugby “Influencers” on Social Media

Influencer, it’s a term that’s taken on new meaning over the last decade, even the dictionaries have included the new twist, “a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media.” Instagram and Tik Tok are probably the most talked about social media platforms among the younger generations. In this article we look at Instagram numbers.

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Editorial – January 2025

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Thoughts for the New Year: Where’s the Next Taylor Paris – Senior Cap in 7s at 17; Senior Cap in XVs at 18 and Canada U20 Rosters from 2012 to 2024

I was thinking on January 1st I’d write an article about what I hoped for in 2025 for Canadian rugby. Obviously the women to do well at the World Cup in England and the men in the World Cup qualifiers but my thoughts turned to the U20 men, that’s where I really was hoping we would see some improvements in 2025. I don’t know what Rugby Canada and their high performance director, Stephen Aboud, have planned for them.

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2024 Recap – November/December 2024

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Top Rugby Stories in BC and Canada During November/December 2024: UBC Win Women’s University Title; ETS Win Men’s University Title; Men Lose to Chile & Romania; New Men’s XVs Coach Hired; Women Compete at Dubai and Cape Town 7s

The big news in November and December was the change in head coach for men’s XVs team, Kingsley Jones was out and Steve Meehan was in. A lot of people were hoping Jamie Cudmore would  make a comeback but it wasn’t to be. UBC won the women’s university title, a first for BC and ETS won the men’s university title, a first for Quebec.

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2024 Recap – September/October

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Top Rugby Stories in BC and Canada During September/October 2024: BC Rugby Starts Season, Coastal Cup, BC Premier; Canada Men Finish 6th in Pacific Nations; Canada Women Finish 2nd in WXV1; Howlers Complete Sweep at Gran Jaguar 7s Tournament; Island Win Dunbar Keg U20 Title

In  September the BC leagues started, first with the Coastal Cup, then the BC Premier and lower divisions. In national team news the men’s XVs lost to Tonga to finish last in the Pacific Nations Cup, in 2025 it will serve as the World Cup qualifier. The women’s XVs defeated France in their first match of the WXV1 which was being hosted in Vancouver.

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Olympic silver

2024 Recap – June/July/August

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Top Rugby Stories in BC and Canada During June, July, August 2024: Women Win Olympic 7s Silver; Highlanders Complete Debut Season; New England Win MLR with 9 Canadians in Roster; U20 Women Win Trans-Atlantic Series

The summer months clearly pointed out the different directions the national men’s and women’s programs were going.  The women’s 7s won Olympic Silver, the men’s 7s failed to qualify for the Olympics. The U20 women shone in Wales winning the Trans-Atlantic Quad series which included Wales, England and  USA. The U20 men lost the JWRT qualifier series to USA  74-39 over two games. The women’s XVs had just won the Pacific Four title in May, the men lost their Pacific Nations Cup matches.

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2024 Recap – April/May

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Top Rugby Stories in BC and Canada During April and May 2024: BC Club Season Wraps Up, UBCOB Ravens Premier Champions; BC High School Season Begins; Canada Women Win Pacific Four Title; Canada Compete at Hong Kong and Singapore 7s

In April the BC club season reaches the semi-finals stage, the high school rugby season is just kicking off. On the national team scene the Hong Kong 7s wraps up and the Canada women start their Pacific Four campaign with a win over USA. Rugby Canada issues its AGM reports and financials and Sally Dennis steps down as Chair of the Board.

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