In the wake of the Canada U20 loss to Zimbabwe we dove a little deeper into the play and analyzed the first Zimbabwe try. The conclusion is that it came down to winning the one on one battle at the breakdown, coupled with some chaos in the defence.
This weekend is the MLR final between New York and Seattle but there’s another battle brewing and it’s not on the field.
We’ve been meaning to run these various stories but with news time ticking down we’ve compiled them into one article.
Evan Olmstead
Even Olmstead is moving from Biarritz to Agen for the next two seasons. Agen are struggling a bit in Pro D2, sitting in 13th place, two spots up from the relegation zone. His move there will hopefully help them move up in the rankings towards the Top 14 promotion zone.
The BC Club finals are over so in BC the question is, what’s next?
This Saturday the American Raptors are visiting to take on the Canada West team, I’m expecting some PR from Rugby Canada on that soon. The game was going to take place at Starlight Stadium but it’s now been moved to Shawnigan Lake. The Raptors put 100+ points on the Seattle club team last weekend so they have some firepower.
[ed. I’ve added another letter from John Lecky, his comments can be viewed in this .pdf document.]
Not that I particularly wanted to resurrect this as, I think, most have given up on Rugby Canada and just want to concentrate on grassroots rugby, club rugby and supporting provincial rugby. However I did say I would publish this open letter from Chris Le Fevre to the Chair of Rugby Canada, Sally Dennis. Chris Le Fevre is a former Rugby Canada board member and was also on the iRB (World Rugby) Executive Council. The letter is posted below (as an image).
Spain last qualified for the World Cup in 1999, congratulations to them. It prompts some self reflection for Canada who won’t be at the World Cup in 2023 for the first time in history.
Pat Kay Retires
Pat Kay made a brief announcement on social media about his retirement from rugby. We understand he will focus on a career moving forward. We wish him all the best in his new endeavour.
Malaga 7s
The news keeps getting better for Canada’s women’s team at Malaga, first NZ were replaced by Poland in their pool, then Fiji dropped out and weren’t replaced so it’s an automatic 3 points for the bye. It now comes down to Canada v USA for top of Pool B and 2nd place. The men haven’t been as fortunate as none of the changes affect Pool D. Jamaica replacing Samoa go into Pool C and Fiji were in Pool A.
[editor’s comments below]
I had started this article in 2021, shortly after the men’s XVs program exited the World Cup qualifying with a loss to Chile. There were a lot of comments on where the solution lay. When I say “Canada’s Rugby Woes”, it’s specifically referring to the national men’s XVs demise. The national women’s XVs program is doing quite well.
2021 was not a good year for Canadian rugby, there’s little doubt about that. The women’s 7s program imploded, shrapnel from that implosion took out a couple of national coaches who were expected to lead Canada forward, the men’s XVs failed to make the World Cup for the first time in its history. COVID crushed everything around it, in particular the national U20 programs and local club rugby. It wasn’t a good year at all.