Ray Barkwill Named USA Assistant Coach; Shawnigan Lake vs USA #2 School De La Salle; Highlanders Announce Latest Reserve Player

Ray Barkwill Assistant Coach USA Rugby

Ray Barkwill has been named as the Assistant Coach of the USA women’s XVs team on their tour to the UK to play South Africa on March 30th. That will be a preparation match for their Pacific Four match against Canada on April 28th in LA. Ray announced earlier on his Linkedin account that he was ” happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Defense Coach at USA Rugby!”

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Izzak Kelly and Jamin Hodgkins Top List of Canadian Players in Wales

Last summer it was Canadian players in NZ, this spring it’s Canadian players in Wales. Last summer we tracked a number of players who were playing regional Premier rugby in NZ, including Izzak Kelly, Noah Bain, Jacob Bossi and Callum Botchar in Taranaki. This spring a number of players are congregating in Wales.

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A Review of the 4th Quarter of 2023, October to December, WXV, BC Premier, La Vila Tournament, Arrows, Coaching Extensions, PanAm Games, University Titles, Vancouver Highlanders

We reflect on the last 3 months of 2023, from October to December, selecting 31 stories that highlighted what was happening in local, national and international rugby news from a Canadian west coast perspective.

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A Review of the 3rd Quarter of 2023, July to September. The World Cup Kicks Off in September as does the BC Rugby Season.

Vancouver Island sweeps U16 and U18 PRCs. Canada women go 2-1 at  Pacific Four, men lose two in Tonga. New England Free Jacks crowned MLR champions for 2023. Thunder Indigenous Rugby tour to NZ. The Olympic qualifier takes place in Langford, women qualify, the men move to repechage.

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A Review of the 2nd Quarter of 2023, April to June, UBC Claim BC Premier Titles, Canada Men’s 7s Win Relegation Tournament, PR7s, Pacific Four Series, MLR Wraps Up Regular Season, High School Championships, Canada U20

We reflect on the second 3 months of 2023, from April to June, selecting 20 stories that highlighted what was happening in local, national and international rugby news from a Canadian west coast perspective.

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A Review of the 1st Quarter of 2023: BC Premier, Canada U20, MLR, Coaches, National 7s/XVs, CanWest, Hall of Fame, Youth Rugby

We reflect on the first 3 months of 2023, from January to March, selecting 20 stories that highlighted what was happening in local, national and international rugby news from a Canadian west coast perspective.

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Season’s Greetings from BCRN – Some Rugby Viewing and Reading Resources Over the Holiday Season

Wishing all our readers a relaxing and joyful holiday season. We’ll do a year end review after Xmas and get into the highlights of the year. For now here are some resources for watching rugby and some past stories that you might find interesting.

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Robert Howley Returns to Wales After Timeout in Canada; When Will Jamie Cudmore Return?

File this story under the category, irksome. Rob Howley gets banned from rugby in 2019 for betting on rugby games that included Wales where he was a coach. As the BBC article calls it, “betting breaches”. His ban was 18 months, reduced to 9 months. He was persona non grata in the rugby world, so where did he find work, Canada, and who helped him land the job, according to BBC, Kingsley Jones.

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Introducing the Atlantic Privateers, Updates on the Vancouver Highlanders and Queen’s University Posts Job for Head Coach Men’s Rugby

The theme of today’s post is men’s high-performance XVs  across Canada, touching on the Highlanders in BC, Queen’s in Ontario and the Privateers in Atlantic Canada.

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World Rugby 7s Series Kicks Off Friday; MacDowell Rugby in Mexico; Pride v Seattle on Saturday; Provincial Youth Club Championships on Sunday

The BC Rugby leagues have shut down for the winter break but there is rugby to watch both locally and online this weekend. The 7s Series kicks off in Dubai, the Mexico 7s U19 tournament starts on Saturday, locally there’s the Pacific Pride vs Seattle at Starlight Stadium on Saturday and on Sunday the Provincial Youth Club Championships at UBC.

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