Cooper Coats photo by pjCARR

Canada v Belgium July 2025

Canada Match 23 Announced for Belgium Contest in Edmonton on Saturday – First Match Under New Head Coach Stephen Meehan

The match 23 for Stephen Meehan’s first game as head coach has been released today. There are 12 players returning from Canada’s last match against Romania in November. Those are Cali Martinez and Andrew Quattrin in the front row, Izzak Kelly, Matt Heaton, Lucas Rumball, Matt Oworu, Callum Botchar, Sion Parry in the forwards, in the backs Brock Gallagher, Cooper Coats, Peter Nelson, Noah Flesch.

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Canada vs South Africa Match #2 – July 2025

Canada Make 12 Changes to Starting XV for 2nd Match Against South Africa: Sophie de Goede Set to Return from Reserves

There are a number of changes from the first match against South Africa which Canada won 50-20. In the front row a change of props with Brittany Kassil and Olivia DeMerchant replacing McKinley Hunt and DeLeaka Menin. South Africa had the upper hand in the scrums in Match #1. Also a change in the second row with Tyson Beukeboom and Laetitia Royer replacing Caroline Crossley and Courtney O’Donnell. The flankers are changed with Karen Paquin and Pam Buisa getting the start.  Only hooker Gillian Boag and #8 Gabrielle Senft retain their original starting spots.

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Canada Men’s XVs – July Updates

Canada Men’s XV List for Belgium and Spain Pruned Down to 33 Players

And then there were 33. Coach Steve Meehan has pruned 11 players from his list of 42 and added 2 that weren’t on the previous list. It’s unlikely all 33 will see action in the two matches, Belgium on July 12th and Spain on July 18th. The Belgium match will be the easier of the two and where you would expect some new caps to be awarded. Belgium lost to the USA last weekend 36-16, 6 tries to 2.

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Provincial Regional Championships (PRCs) 2025

Vancouver Dominate Boys Competition with 3 Gold, Island Claim 2 Gold and Silver in Girls Competition, Valley Win One Gold and 3 Silver Overall, Interior Win U19 Boys Silver

The Vancouver Wave dominated the boys competition winning Gold at the U19, U17 and U15 levels. The Island Tide dominated the girls competition winning Gold at the U19, U17 and Silver at the U15 levels, also claiming Silver in the boys U15. The Fraser Valley won Gold in the U15 girls and Silver in the U19, U17 girls and U17 boys. The Interior had their best showing in the U19 boys division, winning Silver.

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Regional Rugby – July 2025

Island Tide Play Expansive Rugby in 53-17 Win Over Vancouver Wave

The Vancouver Wave struck first just 3 minutes into the match with a lineout and maul that went to ground just short of the goal line, a couple of pick and goes saw them go over, Mike Moloney converted, 7-0. At this early stage of the game the Wave lineout looked to be functioning well and as the commentator noted, the Wave team seemed suited to a strong forwards match while the Tide would likely rely on an expansive game.

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Canada U18 Updates

Canadian U18 Team Defeat German National U18 Team 24-15 to Finish Tour With Three Wins

An excellent end of tour match for the U18 Dog River Howlers as they defeated the German National U18 team 24-15 to finish the tour with 3 wins from 3 games. The team was predominantly a BC U18 team with 23 of the 28 tour players from BC and coaches from St. George’s and Shawnigan schools. The match video can be viewed here.

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Canada vs South Africa – July 2025

Canada Defeat South Africa 50-20 in Match #1

Canada won their first match in South Africa taking a 26-3 half time lead and finishing off with two late tries to win 50-20. The Canada backline looked dangerous during periods of the match finding space out wide but the Canadian forwards weren’t as dominant in this match compared to recent performances. The scrum was under pressure for most of the match. Canada were in control from the opening whistle but won’t be happy with the 3 second half tries they conceded considering they were playing a team ranked 10 places below them.

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UBCOB Ravens logo

UBCOB Ravens – June 2025 Updates

UBCOB Ravens Announce Women’s Team for 2025-26 Season with Jake Thiel as Head Coach

The UBCOB Ravens announced they will be re-establishing a women’s team for the 2025-26 season with Jake Thiel as head coach. The media release is below. We also dug into the archives to look at the history of women’s rugby at Jericho with some excerpts from the research of Doug Sturrock and Dave Pearcey. The Jericho Old Girls were one of three Vancouver women’s teams in 1978 and can claim to be the first champions of the West Coast Women’s Rugby Association (WCWRA) which was started in 1981 with 1982 being the first season played. The team coaches were well known UBCOB players Doug Carr, Rick Bourne, and Garth Henrikson. It doesn’t appear the team continued into the 90s and I’m not sure if there were more recent revivals since then, we’ll update the article if we find more information.

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