The Highlanders have walked back their plan to charge $40 plus fees ($46.39) for their opening games this Friday at Burnaby, (see previous article). They now are offering free admission, you can even “buy” online for $0 from their website.
The Canadian men will not be going to the Olympics, they lost to South Africa in the semi-finals 28-0 and then to Spain in the 3rd/4th place match 31-14. South Africa and Great Britain are playing in the final to determine the one Olympic qualifying spot. Canada did win their quarter-final match against Chile 24-19.
Phil Mack named his Canada Selects squad to take on the Vancouver Highlanders in their double header on June 28th. The other match will see Highlanders take on Barbados. It’s a fairly strong side with a good selection of Pacific Pride players, some who are playing for the Altantic Privateers during the Coast to Coast cup.
The Coast to Coast Cup kicked off yesterday without one coast represented, the Pacific coast. BC didn’t send a team this year, instead focusing on the Vancouver Highlanders and their semi-pro summer season.
The BCRU have announced changes to the schedule for the BC Bears U16 and U18 teams necessitated by the withdrawal of the girls Eagle Impact Rugby Academy (EIRA) teams who were to visit BC.
There are two weeks left in the regular season and the playoff bound teams have been set in the West with Houston claiming top spot, followed by Seattle, San Diego and Dallas. In the East there’s New England, New Orleans, DC and Chicago in the top four spots with Miami still mathematically alive but looking doubtful for a playoff spot. There were 32 Canada-eligible players in action, 18 starting and 14 in reserves.
The Vancouver Highlanders have opened ticket sales for their first event on June 28th. They’ll play the Canada Selects at 4:30 and Barbados at 7pm. Tickets for adults are $40 ($46.39 with fees), $35 ($41.12 with fees) for Military and First Responders and free for children 12 and under.
The USA are playing Canada in August but they’ve released a 30 player roster for their July tests against Romania and Scotland. Canada are expected to release their summer roster next week sometime.
The Canada Selects team that travelled to Spain won both matches against Spain, 27-12 on June 9th and 27-26 on June 15th. The Rugby Canada posts on social media with photos are included below. More details can be read on the scrumqueens.com website.
Canada looked tired coming out on Day 3 after a big Day 2, knocking off Australia and France. They narrowly got by Spain in the semi-final and lost to Japan in the final as errors crept into their game.