The provincial U17 teams will hold camps at Shawnigan Lake from August 3-7 with matches on August 5-7. The boys will be playing a school from the UK and the Alberta Wolfpack, the girls will play 2 games against the Wolfpack. After the camp 24 players from each squad will be selected for a tour to Ontario for a 3 match series from August 23-31. The boys have brought 30 players to camp and the girls 26 players.
I came across this article through Karl Fix who is planning on taking a U19 team down to Argentina in 2026 and his contact there is Les Cusworth. From a Canadian perspective we’re always looking for lessons that can be learned and applied to make our rugby better, specifically our men’s XVs program, which has hit a low patch. So what is Argentina doing right and what might be relevant in a BC and Canadian context? As a side note I’ll have an opportunity to have a chat with Les Cusworth, so if readers have additional questions they would like me to ask, mention them in the comments or email editor@bcrugbynews.com
The BCRU have announced the men’s and women’s teams to take part in the U19 Canadian Rugby Championships which start next week. The men’s coach is Curry Hitchborn and the women’s coach is Jake Thiel. Last year the men came second to Ontario, losing a close 17-10 match in the final. Ontario also won the women’s title, BC finished with 3 losses and a draw. The teams kick off on July 22nd with both teams facing the Atlantic Rock.
The U20 World Championships wraps up on Saturday with the semi-final rounds completed today. The World Rugby report is below, basically NZ and South Africa will meet in the final. Spain and Ireland will compete in the 11th place playoff, normally that would mean one of them would be relegated but not this year because the U20 Tier 2 competition is in flux and there was no JWRT this year. We’ll also look at what’s in store for the U20 Tier 2 competition next year and where Canada fits in. We finish with some comments from Karl Fix who took a U18 team to Germany this year and plans on taking a U19 team to Argentina next year.
Two first half tries by Josiah Morra and Andrew Quattrin saw Canada ahead 13-12 at halftime. Canada were the better team in the first half but couldn’t finish off plays and conceded two soft tries to Belgium. Belgium gained confidence from this while Canada went into panic mode in the second half, compounding their errors. Belgium owned the second half going ahead 25-13 from a try and two penalties. Canada scored a consolation try at the whistle for a 25-18 final.
It wasn’t perfect but Canada’s defence limited South Africa to one second half try which is a victory in itself, after conceding 20 points last match. There are definitely some work-ons, two 1st half yellow cards had Canada playing with 13 players at one point. A couple of 1st half penalty advantages didn’t see the kicks go into touch, a few too many line breaks allowed but the cover defence was strong. Also two players lost, the injury to Rori Wood looking serious and Laetitia Royer holding her shoulder going off.
The BC Rugby season is about 2 months away but it’s never to early to start thinking about it, right? This year’s Premier season looks like it will kick off September 13th with the same 10 teams from last year. Last year due to weather cancellations the number of games played by each team varied from 12 to 15. In 2025-26 each team is scheduled to play 17 matches. There will be a single round against the Pacific Pride and a double, home and away round, against the other 8 teams.
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.
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.
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.