The Canadian highlight in Round 9 of the England Women’s Premiership was Claire Gallagher’s try in her starting debut for Leicester Tigers. Claire usually plays #10 for Canada but was slotted in at #12 for Leicester. She came into the Leicester side last weekend and had a spot in the reserves. Her try was voted the league Try of the Week. This is the first win for the Leicester side in nine matches.
The UVic Vikes fell to Central Washington University 27-22 despite leading 22-17 at the half. UVic had plenty of possession inside the red zone in the second half but couldn’t convert that into points.
The Vancouver Highlanders have announced Tom Davidson as their 7th signing. Tom was a standout junior player, selected to the U19 national all star team in 2016. In 2017 Tom was a member of the Canada U20 team that defeated USA in a two game series in Edmonton and went on to represent North America at the JWRT. He went on to play for the Pacific Pride in 2019, 2021 and captained the side for part of the season in 2022. In 2023 he joined the Castaway Wanderers in the BC Premier.
UVic won the opening tournament of the 2024 CanWest 7s Series in Edmonton. UBC came second. There will be two more tournaments in the series, the next tournament is at UBC, Feb 10-11.
World Rugby has announced a partnership with USA Rugby and MLR to launch a new MLR expansion club in Charlotte, North Carolina, named Anthem Rugby Carolina. The initial roster will “feature players from various MLR teams who are eligible to compete on behalf of the USA in international competition”.
Earlier in the week Phil Mack was announced as the Attack Coach of the men’s XVs program, in that article it stated Phil would remain with the Pride program as “Technical Lead”. We thought that would mean head coach but later Rugby Canada came out with a job opening for the Pacific Pride Pathway Coach that would include being “Head Coach” of the Pride and “Senior Coach” of the men’s U20 program. The deadline for applications is Feb 4th.
Phil Mack the iconic Canadian scrum half has been named as the Attack Coach for the men’s XVs team. Currently acting as head coach of the Pacific Pride, the Rugby Canada Academy, he’ll continue in that role while taking on this new role.
The Vancouver Highlanders have announced Josh Thiel as their 6th signing. Josh has been capped for Canada at the senior level and at the U20 level. He’s also represented Canada on the 7s circuit and played for the San Diego Legion of the MLR. He’s plays both #10 and inside centre, although his first senior cap was at fullback. He’s was part of a talented group of BC U19 players that won Gold at the National Championships in 2016, also on that team were Michael Smith, Callum Botchar, Elias Ergas and Noah Bain.
[note due to snow in Victoria the January 20th matches have been postponed, Vikes vs CWU is postponed until Tuesday, January 23rd at 1pm, Jutes vs DTS is postponed until Saturday, January 27th at 1pm]
This UVic initiative looks like a keeper and hopefully will become an annual event. UVic coaching staff were looking for extra games for their Jutes team, that’s their 3rd squad, made up of first year players, basically the 18 year old age group.
Wayne Barnes refereed more international tests than anyone else in the history of rugby, including at five Men’s World Cups where he held the whistle in the 2023 Final. His autobiography – Throwing the Book: The Strife and Crimes of a RUGBY Referee – is particularly relevant for understanding the psychological pressure on referees, the values and integrity of the game, and his insight into how the game ought to be played.