Category Archives: Front Page

Vancouver Island vs Ontario May 2026 – Photos

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Photos (20) With Commentary from Vancouver Island vs Ontario

The photos from the 1st half of the Island Tide vs Ontario Blues are posted below. I had to leave at halftime when Tide were leading 19-7 so was shocked when I got home and saw the final score 47-19 for Ontario. The players in these photos Gradyn Bowd, Brock Gallagher, D’Shawn Bowen, Kyle Tremblay, Owain Rutten, Emerson Prior were instrumental in getting that 1st half lead and didn’t feature in the 2nd half. BC just released their long list for the Ontario matches and all of these players but Gradyn Bowd are on the BC list. Bowd may have picked up an injury in this match, he is not available.

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Women’s National West Camp Scrimmage – May 2026

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Photos (20) with Commentary from Canada Women’s West Camp

The Canadian women’s XVs team held their west camp the weekend of May 16-17 in Langford. The intrasquad scrimmage took place May 17th prior to the men’s Island v Ontario match. We’ve posted 20 photos below with commentary. We missed some player IDs, feel free to add info via the comment section. One interesting point I noticed was that Christiaan Eisterhuizen was heavily involved in the coaching along with Kevin Rouet. Christiaan has been used in a multi-purpose coaching role with the Pacific Pride, men’s U20, and men’s 7s. With rumours of the Pride not returning will he take on some of the Langford based training of the women’s program?

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VIRU 150th

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Ontario Blues Defeat Island Tide 47-19 After Trailing 19-7 at HT

It was a game of two halves as the first half featured the Tide 1st team vs Blues 2nd team and the second half was the Blues 1st team vs Tide 2nd team. The rosters were 28 players each as Ontario used it as a warm up match for the two game series versus BC. The first half ended 19-7 in the Tide’s favour and when the lineups switched it was 40-0 for Ontario in the 2nd half.

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From the Editor’s Desk – May 2026

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BCRU and CEO Matthew Carter Part Ways – John Tait Again Appointed Interim CEO: Wish List for New CEO

The BCRU made a very short statement yesterday (posted below) saying CEO Matthew Carter would no longer serve as CEO and John Tait would act as interim CEO. Also there will be no further comment. He was hired a year ago, the hiring announcement can be viewed here. In part it read:

As the former Lotus F1 CEO and Team Principal and Business Development Director for Lille Olympic Soccer Club, Carter brings a wealth of leadership experience in sports management, business development and revenue growth that will support BC Rugby’s vision of becoming the safest, most vibrant, and inclusive Rugby community. We believe Matthew will be a transformative leader who will drive growth and innovation, while maintaining a commitment to our strong community values.

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Vancouver Island Crimson Tide vs Ontario Blues

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Island Crimson Tide Match Roster and Ontario Blues Travel Roster Announced

The Island Tide have published a 28 player list for Sunday’s match against Ontario Blues. The Blues have also published their travel roster. The match kicks off at 4:15 pm at UVic’s Wallace Field, the senior women’s west camp also have an intrasquad match prior at 2:30 pm.

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UBCOB Ravens

UBCOB Ravens – May 2026

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Ravens Claim Premier Title and Rounsefell Cup: Ravens 30 – UVic 3
Report by Peter MacDonald

On a pleasant spring day at Bayside’s excellent two field venue the UBC Old Boys and the University of Victoria met for the second time in their histories to contest the Rounsefell Cup. Both teams had been building strength going into the final, with the classic student vs club team narrative waiting to play out on the big stage.

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Vancouver Island Rugby History

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1876 Where Rugby in BC Began: The Canteen Grounds in Esquimalt – Vancouver Island Rugby Union 150th Anniversary

Doug Sturrock in his book, “It’s a Try – The History of Rugby in Canada” notes, “the first game [in BC] can be traced back to the year 1876, when records show that sides from the Royal Navy played matches against the land forces and civilian teams from Vancouver Island on the historic Canteen Grounds at Esquimalt”. Similarly Don Burgess in his summary in the 1976 VIRU Centenary program noted, “The site of the first Rugby games in Victoria, and for that matter in British Columbia, was the Canteen grounds in Esquimalt, a position now occupied by Yarrow Shipyards.”

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High School Rugby Updates – May 2026

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In Touch Newsletter by Phil Smith: Volume 2 Issue 9

Phil’s Volume 2 Issue 9 covers the last round of pool play, the zone semi-finals are today with #1 Shawnigan vs #4 SMUS and #2 Oak Bay vs #3 Claremont. Meanwhile across the Strait, St George’s are hosting their zone finals for Juniors and Seniors on Wednesday and Thursday

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National Women’s XVs Development/ID Camps

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Rugby Canada Announce Regional ID/Development Camps for Women’s XVs – West Camp IntraSquad Match Prior to Island v Ontario Men’s XVs

Rugby Canada have announced East and West camps, the East camp took place last week, the West camp is taking place this coming weekend. The VIRU poster announced a “Canada Women’s Intersquad” prior to the Ontario v Island Tide match, these announcements lineup to expect a West camp intrasquad match on Sunday. The Rugby Canada media release didn’t mention which players are attending which camp but these are the players identified from BC and Alberta. We’ll try to get more details on which players are at the West camp and what the rosters will be for the intrasquad match

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Editorial – May 2026

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Reflection on the BC Premier, BC Club Finals – Look Ahead to 2026-27

Now that the club finals are over a chance to review the season, the finals event and look ahead to next season.

What worked

The club finals event from a live stream perspective was for the most part well done. The BCRU had a live camera and announcers on both fields for all seven matches. They didn’t use their Veo Ai system which is like watching rugby through a a traffic camera. It would have been nice to have the rosters shown on screen at the beginning of the match, but some of the announcers mentioned they didn’t have the rosters, we’ll cover rosters later.

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