[ed. results posted are based on BCRU reporting system.]
It’s playoff season in the BC Rugby leagues. In the men’s Premier there are four quarter-finals on tap, the same with the Div 1/Premier Reserves. In women’s Premier there are two semi-finals. Check out bcrugby.com/fixtures for all other leagues.
from BC Rugby
BC Rugby is delighted to announce the return of the BC Bears Senior Mens XVs Program, with the team set to compete at the 2023 Coast-to-Coast Cup Competition in Halifax this June.
[ed. anyone need rugby balls, hoodies, we have some stock to clear out, email me editor@bcrugbynews.com – I’ll be there for a couple of hours on Sunday.]
This Sunday (April 16) at Wallace Field at the University of Victoria there will be a youth rugby camp in the morning and a PR7s trial in the afternoon.
from Meraloma Rugby
Dear BC Rugby Members and Clubs,
It only happens Once every 100 YEARS!
On Saturday September 23rd 2023 the Meraloma Club turns 100!
There were 31 Canadians in action in the MLR this week, 17 starters and 14 reserves. San Diego displaced Seattle at the top of the Western Conference while New England continue to lead the Eastern Conference.
Canada finished 14th in the tournament, losing the 13th place match to USA. Japan had a good tournament, gaining 5 series points, Canada picked up 2 points. Japan closed the gap on the automatic relegation position to 8 points. If Japan made the Cup round in Toulouse and Canada had one of their 1 point tournaments, they’ve had 2 so far this year, Japan could make the relegation tournament and send Canada to automatic relegation. Based on tournament results so far it’s unlikely, Japan are in a pool with Samoa, Australia and Ireland in Toulouse.
There’s no local rugby in BC this weekend as the leagues take the Easter Break, the playoffs start next weekend but there are BC and Canadian players in action around the globe.
from Capilano Rugby
Capilano hosted 5 games today. It was supposed to be rainy but the weather turned out to be beautiful. Perhaps a bit chilly but great Rugby weather. The top pitch had two games played, a high school game between West Vancouver and Carson Graham. Carson won 17-0 but it was a well played contest. Capilanos hope to make this an annual event. Caps awarded two rugby shirts to a player of the match from each side. West Vans Taiki Orito and Drew from Carson Graham were selected and awarded the shirts by Caps Neil Courtney.
There were two new Canadian players added to the MLR list as D’Shawn Bowen and Dawson Fatoric moved from the Pacific Pride/7s program to the Toronto Arrows. Also we added Will Grant who is a Canada eligible scrum half playing for Toronto. That brings the total number of Canadian players who are allocated to MLR teams to 63, this week 38 players got on the rosters with 20 getting the start. The spreadsheet below shows the stats up to Week 7.
The men fell further off the pace in trying to avoid the relegation tournament. With two tournaments left, Singapore next week and Toulouse in May, it’s looking unlikely that Canada will make up the 18 points on Spain and 17 points on Uruguay to contest for the 11th spot and exemption from the relegation tournament in London. Spain made the quarter-final in Hong Kong which gave them 10 series points and allowed them to pass Uruguay who garnered 5 series points. Canada earned 2 series points in Hong Kong. Canada are in a pool with Fiji, Spain and Samoa in Singapore so they’ll have a chance to go head to head against Spain in that tournament.