Author Archive: BCRN

MLR 2026 – Week 2

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Only Nine Canadian Players Left in MLR in 2026 Down 80% from 2025: Five Canadian Players Get Game Time Over First Two Weeks

In 2025, MLR was an 11 team North American league. In 2026, it is a six team American developmental league. Following Canada’s 34-20 victory over the Eagles last summer, the rules changed, the borders closed, and the 46-player Canadian contingent from 2025 has been reduced to a mere nine. Only Chicago now has a significant Canadian presence with four players, Seattle and New England have two, and Old Glory has one. California and Anthem have zero. Over Week 1 & 2 only 5 Canadian players saw the pitch. Last year we kept a 46 player spreadsheet of Canadian players, this year it doesn’t merit documentation.

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High School Rugby Updates – April 2026

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In Touch Newsletter by Phil Smith: Volume 2 Issue 4

Phil’s Volume 2 Issue 4 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

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Tropical 7s – 2026

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Canadian Teams Win Three Titles in Florida Tournament: Canadian Attendance Down 33% from 2025

The Tropical 7s wrapped up on the weekend in Tampa, Florida. It’s a popular tournament for Canadian teams although there was a drop off this year by about a third, 33% less Canadian teams made the trip south. There were 48 Canadian teams in 2026 compared to 72 Canadian teams in 2025. In 2025 Canadian teams won six divisions compared to three in 2026.

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Premier Women’s Rugby – March 2026 – Round 16

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Update on the English Premier Women’s Rugby (PWR) Round 16 – Thirteen Canadians in Action

The PWR are on a break until the end of May when they’ll resume Round 17. There will be two rounds of play and then the playoffs among the top four. This is a recap of the Round 16, the last round before the international break. There were 13 Canadian players with Exeter having a bye. Sophie de Goede finally got on the field after a prolonged recuperation period, she played the last quarter of the match. Julia Schell is still missing from the roster, we did some digging on that and saw this announcement from the Trailfinders in November after Round 5 “we can confirm that Julia Schell has sustained injuries to her anterior cruciate ligament in last weekend’s fixture against Saracens.” All the best to Julia on her recovery. We marked below beside each player a XVs or 7s to denote whether they were selected for the Pacific Four XVs or the Hong Kong 7s. Fourteen players were selected for Pacific Four and four players for Hong Kong 7s.

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Canada U20 Updates – April 2026

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Photos from Canada U20 Camp Intrasquad Match: Black v Silver

I dropped by Windsor Park today to catch the Canada U20 camp intrasquad match, Black v Silver. Team Black won handily, they were ahead at the half but poured it on in the second half when the subs came on. A lot of nervous play as players were keen to impress but sometimes tried to do too much themselves. Team Black adapted better to the team play and scored some nice tries, especially in the second half. There apparently will be a tour to South America, possibly in October, but that’s just tentative right now. Both USA and Fiji have been promoted to Tier 1 U20 so it scuppers the Oceania U20 tournament and the traditional home/away with the USA. I posted 44 photos to facebook, embedded below.

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Saratoga Cup 2026

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Saratoga Cup Schedule Announced for Central Interior, Kootenay, Okanagan Teams

While the coastal leagues in BC wrap up their season in May, the interior leagues just get started. About 32 clubs in the Greater Vancouver/Lower Mainland area and Vancouver Island compete in seven leagues from September to May. Kamloops and Kelowna from the Thompson/Okanagan region are the outliers in those competitions. There are 10 teams that compete from May to August in what has been known as the Saratoga Cup. Those teams are from the Okanagan, Kootenays and Central Interior regions. Such is the reality of climate in BC where southern coastal regions get a winter climate similar to NZ/UK while the interior gets a traditional Canadian winter.

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National Men’s XVs Updates – April 2026

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Edmonton and Winnipeg Selected as Host Cities for Nations Cup Matches in July vs Spain, Portugal, Zimbabwe

Alberta returns as a favourite hosting choice for Rugby Canada, it hosted all three Canada matches last year. Calgary hosted the World Cup qualifier against USA in 2025, the win vaulted Canada into the 2027 World Cup. Edmonton hosted matches against Belgium and Spain in 2025, both losses, so hopefully Edmonton will taste victory this year as Portugal and Spain visit.

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UBCOB Ravens

UBCOB Ravens – March 2026

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Ravens Notch Another Narrow Victory Ravens 22 – Westshore 17
Report by Peter MacDonald

The Ravens made a long trek through Nanaimo to Langford keen to play their first game in four weeks and face a strong Westshore team at Juan De Fuca Park. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but the visitors put up three tries (two converted) and a penalty goal to the hosts three tries (one converted) to take the win.

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Pacific Pride – March 2026

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Will the Pacific Pride Return for the 2026-27 Season?

The 2025-26 season is over for the Pacific Pride and some are asking, will they return next season? They’ve had their worst season since returning in 2019. They only had a single round of games in the BC Premier and ended up with 1 win, 1 draw and 7 losses. They were emphatically defeated by visiting teams in exhibition matches. Their coach was assigned to the men’s 7s mid-season. Less games, less wins, less funding, less coaching, the momentum seems to be running out. We’ve heard the rumours, the program is under review, that comes from credible sources. Then yesterday we heard from someone talking to a parent of a returning player, “We have heard the Pacific Pride are no more”. We don’t know that for sure, but the smoke/fire thing, everyone in the community has heard the program is under review but it’s just conjecture at this point what the outcome will be. We asked Rugby Canada for information, but as usual it will come when they’re ready to make an announcement.

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Kamloops Rugby Updates – March 2026

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Kamloops Match Reports by William Shaw: Senior Women Host Bayside and Claim the Win 24-17

The KRC Senior Women versus Bayside was the lone fixture at Exhibition Park this weekend after the Ridge Meadows Men forfeited to the KRC Men in Division 2 action.

Under a sunny blue sky, Aliyah Rodominski kicked off to the awaiting Sharks, who faced immediate Raider pressure. Both squads swapped possession in the early minutes with the Raiders making territory gains through the strong carries of Thea Flundra and Milena Chambers. The Raiders continued to attack on both sides of the field with wingers Rhayna Silversides and Lily Watkinson both getting carries and testing their opposition early in the game. Small errors by the Raiders allowed the visiting Sharks moments to clear their lines and move the play back towards the halfway line.

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