BC Rugby Weekend of October 11th 2025

University Qualifier UBC Defeat TWU, Exhibition Match Valley Venom Crushed by Pacific Pride, Oakville Crusaders Junior Program on Island for Matches v Ravens and CW Taste Victory

UBC confirmed their #1 ranking as they go 4-0 in the BC University qualifying series, TWU need a massive win next weekend against UVic to qualify for the nationals. Pacific Pride dominate in the Valley with a lopsided win. The Oakville Crusaders Junior program took a double from the Ravens on Friday and Ravens edged CW on Saturday.

There are no Premier games this Thanksgiving Weekend but there are two Premier level matches taking place this weekend plus the Oakville Crusaders Junior Program are on the Island for matches with the Ravens and CW.

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Regional Rugby Updates – October 2025

BCRU Revives Ruth Hellerud-Brown Regional Competition – Where’s the McKechnie Cup?

The BCRU has revived the regional competition for women this year, the Ruth Hellerud-Brown Cup. It will replace the Blue-Gold Series that was held in the spring. The RHB Cup will be an in-season competition unlike the Blue-Gold Series which took place out of season in May/June. The competition will run over four weekends from November to March during bye and make-up weekends, Nov 8th, Dec 6th, Feb 14th, March 14th. It raises questions about the status of the men’s regional competition, the McKechnie Cup.

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Kamloops 7s 2025

CW Claim Top U18 Boys Title, Abbotsford Win U18 Girls and U16 Boys Title, Langley Prevail at U16 Girls Level

The Valley as usual came through strong in youth rugby, winning 3 out of 4 top titles at the U18 and U16 level. Abbotsford claimed the U18 Girls Elite and U16 Boys Competitive titles, CW claimed the U18 Boys Elite and Langley the U16 Girls Elite.

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BC Bears U17

BC Sending U17 Boys and Girls XVs Squads to Tour Ontario for 3 Match Series August 23-31 – Rosters Included

A good initiative by the BCRU to send two youth teams to Ontario before school starts in September. The teams will play regional games and then play the full Ontario team in their last match. John Tait the BC Rugby Technical Director stated, “We hope this will become an annual series of games between Ontario and BC, and that Rugby Canada will recognize the value of programming for this age band.“.

Tuesday Results:

Bears U17 Girls 25-17 TRU/EORU
Bears U17 Boys 32-15 TRU/EORU

Thursday Results:

Bears U17 Girls 31-22 SWRU/NRU
Bears U17 Boys 36-12 SWRU/NRU

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Saratoga Cup 2025

Vernon Jackals Win Men’s XVs, Yeti Rugby Club Claim Women’s 7s at 2025 Saratoga Cup Tournament

The home side Yeti Rugby were dominant in the women’s 7s competition, outscoring opponents 175 to 22, and claimed the 2025 women’s title. The men’s XVs competition was a lot closer with Vernon winning the final by one point over the Terrace team.

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BC U19 Men’s Team 2025

BC Rugby Announce Men’s and Women’s U19 Teams for Canadian Rugby Championship

The BCRU have announced the men’s and women’s teams to take part in the U19 Canadian Rugby Championships which start next week. The men’s coach is Curry Hitchborn and the women’s coach is Jake Thiel. Last year the men came second to Ontario, losing a close 17-10 match in the final. Ontario also won the women’s title, BC finished with 3 losses and a draw. The teams kick off on July 22nd with both teams facing the Atlantic Rock.

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Provincial Regional Championships (PRCs) 2025

Vancouver Dominate Boys Competition with 3 Gold, Island Claim 2 Gold and Silver in Girls Competition, Valley Win One Gold and 3 Silver Overall, Interior Win U19 Boys Silver

The Vancouver Wave dominated the boys competition winning Gold at the U19, U17 and U15 levels. The Island Tide dominated the girls competition winning Gold at the U19, U17 and Silver at the U15 levels, also claiming Silver in the boys U15. The Fraser Valley won Gold in the U15 girls and Silver in the U19, U17 girls and U17 boys. The Interior had their best showing in the U19 boys division, winning Silver.

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Regional Rugby – July 2025

Island Tide Play Expansive Rugby in 53-17 Win Over Vancouver Wave

The Vancouver Wave struck first just 3 minutes into the match with a lineout and maul that went to ground just short of the goal line, a couple of pick and goes saw them go over, Mike Moloney converted, 7-0. At this early stage of the game the Wave lineout looked to be functioning well and as the commentator noted, the Wave team seemed suited to a strong forwards match while the Tide would likely rely on an expansive game.

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UBCOB Ravens – June 2025 Updates

UBCOB Ravens Announce Women’s Team for 2025-26 Season with Jake Thiel as Head Coach

The UBCOB Ravens announced they will be re-establishing a women’s team for the 2025-26 season with Jake Thiel as head coach. The media release is below. We also dug into the archives to look at the history of women’s rugby at Jericho with some excerpts from the research of Doug Sturrock and Dave Pearcey. The Jericho Old Girls were one of three Vancouver women’s teams in 1978 and can claim to be the first champions of the West Coast Women’s Rugby Association (WCWRA) which was started in 1981 with 1982 being the first season played. The team coaches were well known UBCOB players Doug Carr, Rick Bourne, and Garth Henrikson. It doesn’t appear the team continued into the 90s and I’m not sure if there were more recent revivals since then, we’ll update the article if we find more information.

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BCRU Updates – June 2025

BCRU Announce New President: Andy Margolis

A new CEO and a new President in quick succession, it will be interesting to see what direction the BCRU takes with the changes at the top. Andy Margolis is COO at Vancouver International Airport, originally from the UK, as is the new CEO, Matthew Carter. Margolis worked at Heathrow Airport holding positions as Head of Operations, Airport Security Manager and Terminal Manager. He also had a term as Operations Manager – Neighbourhood Policing Team at Thames Valley Police. He brings a lot of background skills to this new position.

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