The previous story heading was “Can UBC Be Defeated” and the answer was yes as UVic proved today but UBC win the CanWest 7s title by virtue of their first two tournament wins. UVic claim 2nd place in the series and TWU 3rd. The final session at UBC including the UVic v UBC match can be viewed on the Canada West TV stream. Commentary today was provided by Shalaya Valenzuela and Skye Farish.
It didn’t go as scripted as Canada lost all three games on Day One of the Vancouver 7s. They got thumped by USA in the opening match, defeated by Australia and then lost to Fiji. The stands were sparsely populated by the time Canada played their last match. The players returning from injury didn’t look like they were prepared for the intensity of the series, to make matters worse it appears Piper Logan was injured in the first match. They certainly missed the leadership of Olivia Apps who stayed in the UK to play in the PWR. Canada play in the 5th place semi-final against Japan on Day 2.
It was the women carrying the banner for BC at the VSI with Fraser Valley East winning Gold in U16 and Fraser Valley West winning Bronze, well done to the Valley. In U18 women it was BC Gold making it to the final and defeating Ontario in the final at BC Place. The men fell short with the BC U18 men getting blanked in the medals, Vancouver Island Tide claimed Silver in U16, kudos to them. It’s good to recognize the successful coaches as well, BC Gold U18 women’s coach is Darcy Patterson assisted by Shalaya Valenzuela. The Fraser Valley East U16 girls’ coaches are Slade Rozell, Josh Olafsen, Lindsay Nicholson, all the players were from Abbotsford. The Fraser Valley West U16 girls’ coaches were Katherine Siemens and Kelly Shields, the players were from Langley and United. The U16 boys’ Tide coach was Eric Slade, the players were from CW and JBAA. The tournament scores are on the BCRU events page.
A sure sign of spring is Phil Smith’s In Touch rugby newsletter covering boys rugby on Vancouver Island. We encourage other educators/coaches to do similar for their regions, whether they be focused on boys or girls rugby or both. You can send your newsletter to editor@bcrugbynews.com
A few thoughts of my own reading Phil’s newsletter. Phil notes Quw’utsun (Cowichan) “has opted for sevens despite having a splendid 2025 XV season”. Indeed in 2025 they defeated Shawnigan Lake School in the regular season and were top ranked on Phil’s list at one point, apparently they’re going full out in XVs in the Juniors this year and doing 7s for the Seniors for one year. Another point, a reader sent me in the score for the Robert Bateman vs Shawnigan preseason match, won by Robert Bateman 22-17. Robert Bateman are touring to NZ and Australia this year, leaving next week. Also don’t count out Shawnigan, they lost to Quw’utsun last year in the regular season but ended up in the final, only losing to St. George’s. Looking forward to the upcoming high school rugby season.
Bayside Sharks rugby club have announced their intention of moving up to the BC Premier for the 2026-27 season and are seeking a Head Coach, the announcement, poster and link to the application page are listed below. In July the Langley rugby club also announced their intention of moving up to BC Premier next season, that would potentially grow the league to 11 teams plus the Pacific Pride (Rugby Canada Academy) from its current 9 teams plus Pride. Currently each team plays 17 matches, a home/away with the other 8 teams plus one match against the Rugby Canada academy side.
The last early morning of the regular season, saw the KRC Senior Ladies leaving Exhibition Park at 5:30am this morning for Capilanos. After weeks of rain and water logged pitches, it was sunny skies and a relatively dry playing surface at Kahlanie Park.
Week 15 has wrapped with most teams only having 3 matches left in the regular season. Next weekend is the Vancouver 7s so there will be a break in the action before Week 16 resumes on March 14th. Ravens maintain their lead at the top, Westshore and UBC remain in a battle chasing 2nd place and a quarter-final bye. Capilano and James Bay remain in 4th and 5th place respectively and Burnaby reclaim 6th place with UVic having work to do in order to make the post season. In women’s Premier Westshore closed the gap on 1st place Lomas while CW dropped to 5th and Burnaby rose to 3rd with very little separating the top 5 teams.
It’s good news to hear there will be senior men’s rep competition this spring. Ontario are visiting BC for 3 matches, one against a regional team, Vancouver Island, before taking on the BC Bears for two games, one at Capilano and the other at Shawnigan Lake School.
It was Round 12 of the PWR in England, there were 18 Canadian players in action. There are six more rounds before the semi-finals with the top four teams participating. It looks as if Saracens and Gloucester will be in that top 4 with Exeter, Harlequins and Trailfinders battling for the remaining two spots. Sophie de Goede and Olivia Apps were missing from the Saracens roster, de Goede is returning from injury while Apps may possibly be headed back for the 7s in Vancouver in just over a week’s time.
