Round 1 of the World Cup is in the books, host France defeating NZ, England defeating Argentina while down to 14 men, and Wales surviving a late charge by Fiji were probably the highlights. Round 2 starts Thursday.
A recent article in the Squamish news highlights the problems some rugby clubs are experiencing in finding field access, which is essential to growing the game. Turf fields are especially valuable as they allow all weather access during the wet BC winters. Even established clubs have issues during extended periods of rain as the municipal Parks & Recreation boards seem to be setting tighter restrictions on grass field use.
If using photos please give credit to BC Rugby News. Click on any image to see full screen photo slide show, editor@bcrugbynews.com.
If using photos please give credit to BC Rugby News. Click on any image to see full screen photo slide show, editor@bcrugbynews.com.
It was a beautiful sunny weekend for rugby, at least on the south Island where I took in some matches.
At UVic there was a triple header starting with the Dunbar Keg match, South Island Tide vs North Island Tsunami. That was won by North Island 36-33. Vancouver defeated Valley 61-0 in the other U20 match. Next weekend the Valley host the Tide at Langley and Vancouver host Tsunami at UBC.
The Pride went 2-0 on the season with a dominant 52-12 win over the home side UVic. In other action UBC went to 1-1 with a 61-22 victory over TWU. Traditionally UBC start slowly and pick up momentum as the season progresses.
The U20 regional competition, the Dunbar Keg, kicks off on Saturday with two matches, one at UBC and one at UVic.
The story photo is of Doug Fraser in 2011, he won the Best Back in the competition and Jared Douglas won the Best Forward. Both went on to national honours later in their careers. Support the U20 competition and possibly see some future national team players early in their career.
Kickoff noon PT on Friday September 8th, televised on TSN 5.
New Zealand
Fly-half Richie Mo’unga will win his 50th cap after being named in the New Zealand team to face France in the opening game of Rugby World Cup 2023 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Friday.
Some notable inclusions in this 32 player list, Caroline Crossley and Magali Harvey return to national team play. They both played in the Premier Rugby Sevens competition this summer. Krissy Scurfield comes into the XVs picture after making a name for herself with the national 7s team.
The BC Rugby season kicks off in all divisions this weekend. It’s preseason matches for most leagues but the Dunbar Keg regional U20 competition, the Coastal Cup University/Academy competition, and the CanWest women’s University competition are in their regular season this weekend.