I had a chance to talk to Ralph McRae, one of the driving forces behind the Vancouver Highlanders, and I’ll share my thoughts from the conversation. I’m sure if I get anything wrong, Ralph or Curry will let me know.
Last year we were looking at all the Canadian players competing in the Taranaki Premier in NZ, Callum Botchar, Izzak Kelly, Jacob Bossi and Noah Bain. This year it’s Western Australia. Also the MacDowell Rugby Academy are in Germany for the Heidelberg 7s this coming weekend.
It’s time to double back on a couple of stories from last week and dig down a bit deeper. The first story is the men’s 7s team getting relegated from the World Rugby 7s series, the second story is the men’s U20 loss to the USA on home soil. Both are connected through a theme of “what’s happening with the national men’s rugby programs”?
Carissa Norsten was named World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series Rookie of the Year, let that sink in a bit. The Men’s Sevens Series Rookie of the Year was Antoine Dupont, a seasoned XVs professional rugby player who some claim is the best rugby player in the world at the moment. How did a young woman from rural Saskatchewan who first touched a rugby ball 5 years ago at age 15 get to share the same honour as a professional rugby player who has played since age 4, professionally since 18, in a country where rugby is a national pastime? The answer may provide a clue as to how Canada is going to compete internationally and develop rugby talent.
A few destinations around the world that caught my eye involving Canadian teams and players. The UBCOB Ravens just returned from playing the Mexico National XVs team, MacDowell Rugby are travelling to Germany in June, the Madrid 7s pools were announced and Francois Ratier and his Stade Bordelais team are in the France Elite league playoffs.
The Canadian men’s 7s team have lost 25 games in a row, they’ve finished last in all events except one. They’re entering the repechage tournament in Madrid in 19 days, it’s an 8 team tournament with the top 4 teams remaining in the series next season. We already know Canada are in a pool with USA and the remaining two teams in their pool will be chosen from the top four group of the Challenger series, currently Uruguay, Kenya, Chile and Germany. There’s one more Challenger tournament this coming weekend in Germany to decide the final Challenger rankings.
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!”
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.
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.
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.