Rugby Canada and Canadian Howlers Provide NextGen Development Pathways
Rugby Canada released its NextGen plan, it’s U20 for men and U21 for women. The plan includes camps at the U18 level for both men and women. The U21 women already had their tour to Ireland/England in March. The U20 men will be part of the World Rugby U20 Challenger in Chile in October, they’ll have a camp in August. Up to this point there’s some symmetry with the men’s and women’s pathways but that diverges with the 7s pathway where there’s a lot more focus and opportunity for the women. The women get development opportunities at the senior (EAAST Sevens), university (FISU) and U18 (Global Youth 7s) levels, the men just get development at the U17 level (Youth Olympics).
The Canadian Howlers, formerly the Dog Rivers Howlers, are picking up the slack for Rugby Canada in men’s NextGen development. They’ve organized a U18 XVs tour to Argentina in August. They’ve already selected a Canada roster in cooperation with the Canada U20 coach. The roster and match itinerary are posted below.
