Week 12 of MLR wrapped up with 29 Canada-eligible players in action, 16 starters and 13 in reserves. Mitch Richardson and Dewald Kotze of the Dallas Jackals became the first Canadian players to reach 11 starts in the season. There are 6 weeks left in the regular season.
It was looking ominous in the first half with NZ scoring two tries from the backline and leading 14-10 at the half. As usual for Canada it was the forwards and the maul that did the damage on attack, setting up all three Canadian tries.
The latest Rugby XVs rankings for the AAA and AA schools are out and show some changes from the previous rankings.
The Vancouver Highlanders have added Karl Hunger to their roster. Hunger had been signed by Dallas Jackals of the MLR but didn’t get any playing time this season, subsequently he’s returned to Canada and signed with the Highlanders. The Highlanders also announced the signing of Relmu Wilson-Valdes of UBC.
There were a number of Canadian match official appointments made this summer by World Rugby. Talal Chaudhry was selected for Rugby 7s at the Olympics, he’ll be working in the women’s tournament. Robin Kaluzniak will be Assistant Referee in two test matches this summer, USA vs Romania and USA vs Scotland. Chris Assmus will be the TMO at the USA vs Scotland match.
There were 24 Canada-eligible players in action in Week 10, 14 starting and 10 in reserves. New England remains top in the East and Houston in the West.
The Canadian men’s 7s team have lost 25 games in a row, they’ve finished last in all events except one. They’re entering the repechage tournament in Madrid in 19 days, it’s an 8 team tournament with the top 4 teams remaining in the series next season. We already know Canada are in a pool with USA and the remaining two teams in their pool will be chosen from the top four group of the Challenger series, currently Uruguay, Kenya, Chile and Germany. There’s one more Challenger tournament this coming weekend in Germany to decide the final Challenger rankings.
The starting front row scored all of Canada’s tries in a display of forwards power. The win puts Canada at 2-0 on the series and guarantees them a place in the WXV1 they are hosting later this year.
World Rugby has announced details of further trials on the 20 minute red card, it will include competitions Canada are involved with this summer including WXV, U20 Trophy and Pacific Nations Cup. A player receiving a red card will have to sit out the match and then receive a two or four week ban, depending on severity, his team however will be able to replace him in the match after 20 minutes.
A big crowd and an excellent pitch at Burnaby Lake were the setting for the last championship game of a long day, the men’s premier final. The Ravens came out strongly, dominating the first 10 minutes, and staking themselves to a 10-0 lead. The try was a product of continuous possession and pressure with forwards, Crowell, Locke, Kaijaks and Konrad carrying and making ground. Lock Donald Carson then moved the ball towards the posts where from a ruck Joe Locke’s strong angled run off the ball put him through the would-be tacklers for the try under the posts.