Ardron and Olmstead Looking Doubtful as Canada Prepare for Match in St. John’s

We had a call into camp HQ today and what we heard wasn’t the most encouraging news for Canadian rugby fans. It appears as if Tyler Ardron and Evan Olmstead won’t be leaving Europe to join the team in St. John’s, Newfoundland. This would apply to others plying their trade in Europe as well such as Tyler Duguid and perhaps Will Percillier. There’s still some negotiation ongoing with Percillier’s club but it’s wait and see on that.

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England Dominate Canada in Final July Test 70-14- Match Notes and Reflections

And so it begins. Off the kickoff Conor Keys receives the ball and gets rag dolled in the tackle by the England openside, Sam Underhill. Ben LeSage is first there but just can’t budge the loose forward, Corey Thomas arrives a bit later but the damage is done and it’s a penalty for holding on. This is a prime example of the importance of winning the contact areas and how it’s going to dictate the outcome of the match.

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Canada Fall to Wales 68-12 (40-5 HT) – Match Notes

[ed. notes and reflections taken during the match]

Canada started well with a try at 4:20, how Canadian. Cooper Coats was the hero, taking a quick tap from a penalty, weaving through some defenders and finding an alert Ben LeSage in support who found Kainoa Lloyd on the outside with a perfect pass. Lloyd had some work to do as he got low and used his power to bounce of the defender. Peter Nelson gets a kudo as well for the clearance kick that had put Canada inside Wales 22 to start with. Two of the key players in that try don’t play MLR and haven’t recently played XVs on a regular basis in a league environment. Cooper Coats trains with the national 7s squad and Kainoa Lloyd with the Pacific Pride squad. The last time they showed up in regular competitive XVs was February 2020 when both were playing for James Bay in the BC Premier league, Coats playing #10 and Lloyd #13.

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Canada Announce St John’s for First Round of RWC 2023 Qualifying vs USA – Langford for October Series with South American Team

It was August 12 2006 when Canada and USA met in St. John’s, Newfoundland for the RWC 2007 qualifier. Canada went on to win that match 56-7 and go through as Americas #1. Ric Suggit was coach and Mike James and Morgan Williams were the player reps at the press conference. I remember it well, I had flown out from Vancouver Island for the week and stayed at the modest Memorial University residences to cover the match for BCRN.

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Canada Add Four Names to Touring Squad for Wales and England Tests

Injuries have forced head coach Kingsley Jones to make 2 changes to the 30 player squad, he’s also named 2 extra players for a total of 32 on tour.

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Kingsley Jones Names 30 Player Squad for July Tests vs Wales and England

It’s an interesting selection, first of all two players who weren’t even on the extended list announced two weeks ago are now on the team. Lucas Albornoz and Reegan O’Gorman, both second rows, weren’t mentioned in the extended list but now find themselves in the tour squad. It could have to do with their recent MLR performances or the fact two established second row players, Evan Olmstead and Kyle Baillie, are now “Unavailable for Selection”.

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Canada Announce Long List of 40 Players for July Tests: Travelling Roster Announcement Mid-June

Rugby Canada announced the men’s Canada XVs long list (40 players) for the July tests in a very muted manner. The article originally wasn’t even on the front page just as a list under the men’s XVs program. The list wasn’t alphabetical but seemed to be listed in order of position. My guess is it came from the coach without any media interpretation which may be useful in getting an insight into Kingsley Jones’ thinking on selection.

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USA Name 41 Player Preliminary Roster for July Tests: 75% of Players from MLR Teams

The US have named a 41 player preliminary roster that will be reduced to 30 by late June. It’s a good move and allows the MLR teams to plan early around the disruption of the July tests. Rugby Canada have stated they will release their list by mid-June and whether that’s an extended roster or closer to the travelling 30 man roster, remains to be seen.

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A Look at the Canada Men’s XVs Team: Who Are the Likely 30 Heading to the UK in July

[ed. we’ve no doubt inadvertently overlooked someone, we’ll revisit the selections in a couple of weeks to update the percentages based on new data and reader feedback. Use the comment section below or email editor@bcrugbynews.com to add your thoughts.]

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Hong Kong Rugby Union Terminates Elite Rugby Program for Men’s XVs – How You Can Help Fund the Canadian Elite Men’s XVs Academy

News that Hong Kong has terminated its Elite men’s XVs program due to the financial pressures of COVID should make Canadian rugby supporters take note and resolve to keep its Elite men’s XVs academy funded and running. The Pacific Pride, aka Rugby Canada Development Academy, operating under the coaching of Jamie Cudmore and Phil Mack is one of the few competitive advantages Canada have over their Americas rivals. In order to get to the 2023 World Cup, Canada’s first goal is to finish top 2 in the Americas, and in that context they are looking directly at USA and Uruguay.

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