Is a Canada Summer XVs Tour to Tonga in the Works for August; Coast to Coast Cup Starts Saturday

Tonga?

RNZ, Radio New Zealand, ran a story on Tongan rugby that states they’ll play a 2 game series against Canada after the Pacific Nations Cup and before leaving for the World Cup in France. Tonga play their final PNC match August 5th in Samoa, that leaves 3 weekends of pre-World Cup action remaining, August 12, 19, 26, to fit in a 2 game series. There’s been no corroboration from Rugby Canada or World Rugby yet.

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From the Editor’s Desk: National Men’s XVs and U20 Updates; BC Boys High School Update; A Comparative Look at the Taranaki Annual Report: UPDATE ON U20 PROGRAM

BC Boys High School Updates

Shawnigan won the Island final over Oak Bay 36-10, St. George’s defeated Carson Graham in the Mainland final 13-5. It’s likely those two teams will be top seeds in the Provincials coming up May 31st to June 3rd. Elgin Park defeated Lord Tweedsmuir 41-7 in the South Fraser championship.

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MLR in BC – Early Survey Results

We ran a survey on May 1st about an MLR team in BC, we had 236 respondents and here are the results. You’ll notice a permanent link in the right column on the home page as we’ll continue to monitor survey results during the year and provide updates, the next update will come when we reach 500 entries. We’ll also do a draw at the end of each month for a Gilbert TR4000 rugby ball.

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From the Editor’s Desk: Canada’s New Director of High Performance and Canada Men’s XVs Summer Matches

Even though there’s nothing official, which isn’t surprising from Rugby Canada, this is the latest info we have on what’s happening at HQ.

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MLR Survey: Would you like to see an MLR team in BC?

We’re going to run a survey to monitor interest in having an MLR team in BC. We’ll leave the survey link on the home page so people can find it easily and we’ll collect data over time. Every month we’ll do a draw for a Gilbert TR4000 rugby ball, the draw will be done from survey respondents. We’ll notify the winner by email.

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Rugby This Weekend: Tropical 7s, MLR Week 8, Canada U18 Camp, Singapore 7s

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.

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Editorial: MLR Team in Vancouver – What It Would and Wouldn’t Accomplish

Patrick Johnston wrote an article in the Province last week, Vancouver group rallies to take another look at pro rugby.

My editorial view is, an MLR team in BC would be good but it’s not going to be the saviour of Canadian rugby, if there’s money to be spent there are other options.

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A Look at Rugby 7s Funding Numbers from Own the Podium; Maple Leafs Entered in LA 7s Invitational Men’s Elite Division; Scott Johnson from Rugby Australia Director of Rugby to Rugby Canada High Performance Consultant

Rugby 7s Funding by Own the Podium

In the Tokyo quinquennial the women’s rugby 7s program and Rugby Canada received $10,487,500 in funding from Own the Podium. This was due to the hard work put in by the 2016 Olympic team who won Bronze under the coaching of John Tait. Under the Paris triennial they are no longer listed under Summer Sport Funding, they’ve been moved to the Team Sport Strategy category with the note, “team sports considered to be medal potential for 2024 are included under the Summer Sport Funding category”. They are now listed alongside the men’s program. They’ll receive $1,050,000 in funding for 2022-23. The men’s program will receive $575,000, an improvement over the $130,000 they received in the Tokyo quinquennial.

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UBCOB Ravens Win U18 Provincial Title; HSBC Hosts Indigenous Youth Workshop at Vancouver 7s; Barbara Mervin Makes News in NZ; From Hospital Bed to Rugby Pitch: The story of James Dubois

UBCOB Win U18 Title

The 2022 Age-Grade Club Season came to a close this weekend after the U18 Boys Final finished with UBCOB Ravens defeating Salish Sea Warriors 26-17.

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Neil Davidson Article Gives More Insight into Direction of Rugby Canada Under New CEO Nathan Bombrys

The recent article by Neil Davidson on Rugby Canada gives further insight into the mindset of new CEO Nathan Bombrys and the direction he’s trying to take Rugby Canada. One of his first actions was to hire three UK technical staff, also his first non-action was keeping Kingsley Jones in charge of the men’s XVs despite failing to reach the World Cup.

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