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.
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.
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.
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.
Warren Gatland wants his coaching mate, Robert Howley, back in the Wales fold. His comments were captured in the Guardian article linked below. He basically wants Howley forgiven but apparently the WRU blocked the move.
The most interesting rugby story to come out of the weekend was the move of Eddie Jones to Australia as coach, as Dave Rennie got the sack in Australia. Jones had been England’s coach but was sacked and there was speculation around his final destination, it’s now confirmed to be Australia. Here are some of the articles on the subject from around the rugby world.
USA Rugby announced on January 5th the appointment of two interim coaches while their high performance review continues. Neither the men’s or women’s XVs team met expectations so the contracts of the head coaches were not renewed and a high performance review initiated.
Local rugby news is slow in the new year, so let’s take a look at what’s grabbing the headlines elsewhere.
What’s on your wish list for Canadian rugby this year? This is ours.
2022, what to make of it from a BC and Canadian rugby perspective? Obviously the top story is the women’s World Cup, Canada finished 4th, maybe a little disappointing for the world #3 team but they represented well, the tournament gained a lot of media coverage and progressed women’s rugby worldwide. Sophie de Goede probably put herself at the top of the list for most media-recognizable rugby player in Canada now, male or female.