Phil’s Volume 2 Issue 6 covers the incoming tour by French school Lycee Bellevue, the Island XVs rankings and the schedule for April. The newsletter is posted below.
Some important dates for high school rugby are as follows:
XV’s or 7’s Team Declaration Deadline: April 22nd, 2026
Zone Championships Completed: May 19th, 2026
2026 Rugby XVs & 7s Provincial Championships: May 27-30
The Vancouver Island Classics vs Calgary Classics game kicks off on Saturday in memory of Kevin ‘Lunk’ Wirachowski. It’s the curtain raiser for the BC Premier quarter-final between James Bay and Capilano at MacDonald Park. Tom Woods is helping to organize and the Crimson Tide Classics team is still looking to fill the roster, contact Tom at thodeconsulting@gmail.com for more information. The game was first held in Victoria in 2024, we have the write up on that with photos.
Canada’s highlight of the tournament was the win over #5 USA on Day 2 but they were no match for #1 NZ or #3 France on Day 3. Canada also picked up injuries during the tournament and fielded an 11 player roster against France minus Fancy Bermudez and Caroline Crossley, both injured in the Australia NZ match. Next up is the tournament in Spain at the end of May. Canada will be in a pool with France, Spain and Great Britain. NZ won the Hong Kong women’s tournament, South Africa the men’s tournament.
There was only one Premier match in the final make-up weekend before the playoffs, it was #1 Ravens vs #6 Vikes. The Ravens won handily and they’ll get a bye and host the semi-final on May 2nd while UVic visit Westshore in the quarter-finals next weekend. The Caps will visit JBAA in the other quarter-final. UBC also get a bye next week and host a semi-final on May 2nd. There was no women’s Premier this weekend, next weekend CW visit Westshore in the 4th/5th playoff before the semi-finals start on May 2nd with the top three teams being Meraloma, Burnaby, Thunderbirds.
Canada were outplayed on the day by the team that took over their #2 ranking, NZ. NZ rise to 2nd and Canada drop to 3rd. Canada were ahead at the half 14-10 but were completely outplayed in the second half. Two intercept tries by NZ in the last quarter highlighted the lack of imagination in Canada’s attack and inability to adapt to the NZ defensive strategy. NZ threw their outside defenders up fast and Canada kept trying to spread it wide without using any inside runners. Add in the advantage that NZ had at the breakdown, where slow Canadian support and isolated runners were punished with multiple turnovers, and it was a 26-0 2nd half in favour of NZ.
Sometimes in the news it’s what’s missing that’s important. This is one of those stories. I struggled with writing this article but information was presented to me a while ago that keeps resurfacing in daily thought, and it’s time to share it with the wider rugby community, perhaps to excise it from my list of responsibilities as a rugby journalist. It’s an unpleasant story, it won’t make you feel good, so you may want to pause and turn back before proceeding.
Phil’s Volume 2 Issue 5 covers the Island’s XVs scene, the Island XVs rankings and the schedule for April. The newsletter is posted below.
Some important dates for high school rugby are as follows:
XV’s or 7’s Team Declaration Deadline: April 22nd, 2026
Zone Championships Completed: May 19th, 2026
2026 Rugby XVs & 7s Provincial Championships: May 27-30
A longer than planned bus trip from United to Kamloops resulted in a delayed kickoff to the BC Women’s Division 1 action this past Saturday.
Thankfully it was a sunny day at Exhibition Park, and after the delay, the KRC Senior Women kicked off to the visiting United Rugby Club.
It wasn’t ideal playing conditions, a water logged field, driving rain and a weather delay due to lightning but Canada managed to score four tries for a bonus point while keeping Australia off the board. It wasn’t champagne rugby but Canada’s defence got the job done. Outstanding for Canada were Justine Pelletier at scrum half, Julia Omokhuale in the second row, Pam Buisa at flanker and Brittany Kassil at loosehead prop.
It’s the last regular season weekend, there’s one make-up weekend before the playoffs with UVic hosting Ravens on April 18th. The playoffs start April 25th. The results this weekend created two ties in the standings and the tie-breaking rules had to be consulted, head to head results comes first. That puts UVic in the playoffs and Burnaby out, it also gives UBC 2nd place and Westshore 3rd. In women’s Premier UBC dominated and finish in 3rd, Westshore drop to 4th and Burnaby claim 2nd, Lomas remain #1.