Canada Leak Four Tries in Thirteen Minutes in 38-14 Loss to Portugal

Canada scored first and last but Portugal scored 38 unanswered points in between. Canada were in the game at the half, down 12-7 but they fell asleep in the 3rd quarter as Portugal scored four tries between 42′ and 55′ and the game went from 12-7 to 38-7, from a competitive match to a blowout in 13 minutes. For the second week in a row the Canadian backline was a defensive liability, all Portugal’s tries were scored by the backs, two from the inside centre, two from the wing, one from the outside centre and one from the scrum half. Canada were missing their two top players Tyler Ardron and Lucas Rumball and it showed, coach Meehan’s record is now 1-1-9 and without Tyler Ardron in the lineup it’s 0-9.

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Canada Draws with Spain 42-42: Last Minute Heroics to Claim 3 Points

It was a match of ups and downs. The highlight for Canada was the come from behind equalizer with time expired. That showed some character to put together multiple phases with no allowance for error. Noah Flesch ended up being the hero as he picked the ball up from the base of the ruck and decided to go himself, getting one of the few line breaks for Canada in the match. From there it went quickly to the outside where Tyler Ardron made the key pass to set Kyle Tremblay across the line. Takoda McMullin showed nerves of steel to take the conversion as Cooper Coats had been injured on the play. Noah may have been the last minute hero but it was his brother Mason who was selected player of the match with two tries.

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Meehan Announces 32 Player Squad for Summer Nations Cup Matches: Tyler Ardron, Evan Olmstead and Cooper Coats All Available – Updates

UPDATES: Rob Povey out with injury, Lockie Kratz brought in as a replacement. Daragh Doyle U20 lock also brought in. Rob Povey has been ruled out due to injury which leaves Cooper Coats and Peter Nelson as #10 starting options in game #1 against Spain. Daragh Doyle was a late addition, he played second row for the U20 team last year. 

Stephen Meehan has named his 32 player squad for the summer Nations Cup matches against Spain, Portugal and Zimbabwe. The good news is the trio of Evan Olmstead, Tyler Ardron and Cooper Coats, who were instrumental in Canada’s only win under Meehan, are available.  All three have been missing from the Canada roster recently. Also good news is the return of Andrew Quattrin. There are a number of players missing from Meehan’s recent selections, Callum Botchar, Emerson Prior, Austin Creighton, James Naylor who were part of the November 2025 rosters didn’t get a mention in the injured/unavailable list. Botchar had earned a starting role with the Seattle Seawolves and Prior was outstanding in the BC v Ontario series. Brock Webster who has been outstanding with MLR champions Chicago Hounds has been marked unavailable/injured.

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Happy Canada Day 2026 – A Look Back at the Men’s 2025 Roster

With the Nations Cup kicking off on Saturday it seemed fitting to look at the men’s roster for 2025. This graphic is courtesy of the World Rugby media guide. The current Media Manager for Rugby Canada is Maxine O’Leary so I’m guessing she is responsible for putting this together. Well done!

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Spain and Zimbabwe Release Extended Rosters: Waiting on Rugby Canada – A Look at the November 2025 Rosters

As we wait for Canada’s extended roster announcement for their summer tests against Spain, Portugal and Zimbabwe we look at Canada’s last rosters from November 2025. We’re also collecting the rosters of the teams they’re playing against. Spain and Zimbabwe have released their extended rosters and we’ve appended those below. We’ll add Canada and Portugal when they’re released.

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Photos from Canada U20 Camp Intrasquad Match: Black v Silver

I dropped by Windsor Park today to catch the Canada U20 camp intrasquad match, Black v Silver. Team Black won handily, they were ahead at the half but poured it on in the second half when the subs came on. A lot of nervous play as players were keen to impress but sometimes tried to do too much themselves. Team Black adapted better to the team play and scored some nice tries, especially in the second half. There apparently will be a tour to South America, possibly in October, but that’s just tentative right now. Both USA and Fiji have been promoted to Tier 1 U20 so it scuppers the Oceania U20 tournament and the traditional home/away with the USA. I posted 44 photos to facebook, embedded below.

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Edmonton and Winnipeg Selected as Host Cities for Nations Cup Matches in July vs Spain, Portugal, Zimbabwe

Alberta returns as a favourite hosting choice for Rugby Canada, it hosted all three Canada matches last year. Calgary hosted the World Cup qualifier against USA in 2025, the win vaulted Canada into the 2027 World Cup. Edmonton hosted matches against Belgium and Spain in 2025, both losses, so hopefully Edmonton will taste victory this year as Portugal and Spain visit.

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Seven New Forwards and Five New Backs Added to Pacific Pride 2026 Spring Roster

The Pride haven’t exactly been setting the rugby world on fire with their 2025 fall results, a 0-4 record in the BC Premier and a loss to the visiting Chicago Hounds Academy side. One area they need reinforcements is in the forwards, particularly the tight five, and most notably at the prop position where they have had to borrow players on occasion. They have 7 new forwards coming in and 5 backs. The most notable name in the forwards is probably UVic’s Jordy Auger (hooker) and in the backs Jacob Ince (centre) from the uni champions, Guelph Gryphons.

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A Look at the 2026 Schedule for Canadian National Teams

It’s New Year’s Eve, time to celebrate the past year, you can view our four articles that highlight the past year, January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December. It’s also time to look at 2026. The national women’s XVs will be playing their Pacific Four series in April/May then a new WXV Global in the fall. England will be visiting in October for at least two matches. Canada didn’t host any Pacific Four matches in 2025 so are due to host some in 2026. The men’s national XVs will be part of the Nations Cup and that schedule is already known, 3 July matches at home and 3 away matches in Europe in November. As for 7s the women have already completed 2 tournaments in the 2025/26 season and have their next tournament in Singapore at the end of January. The men are in the SVNS 3 tournament in January, they have to finish top two to continue their season.

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