Stephen Aboud Returns to Italy as High Performance Manager: Rugby Canada States Reason as “Closer to Family”

File this under more Rugby Canada mismanagement and poor decisions. After two years of wasting time in Canada and no doubt enjoying the beauty of Vancouver Island, the holiday has ended and Stephen Aboud has returned to Italy to take up the High Performance role there. Rugby Canada and former board members continue with the charade of well wishes, not wanting to own up to the fact their poor decisions have put Canada two years behind in implementing an effective high performance strategy.

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Rugby Canada and RugbyPass (Owned by World Rugby) Do Damage Control on Steve Meehan Hiring

The Steve Meehan hiring is basically old news, most Canadian rugby fans aren’t happy but they’ve moved on. Which is why it’s difficult to understand why RugbyPass posted a Rugby Canada explanation today (January 21st) that was extremely poorly presented and not very credible. It’s an Ai (artificial intelligence) voice reading a script to slides, it’s not very convincing.

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Rugby Canada HOF Committee Name Nine Inductees for Class of 2024: Eddie Evans, Ed Fairhurst, Barbara Mervin, Ian Hyde-Lay, DTH van der Merwe, Rick Powers, Joyce Henry, Colette McAuley, John Hutchinson

Congratulations to the nine 2024 Hall of Fame inductees. Their profiles are linked below but I have favourite memories for several of them who I’ve crossed paths with in the rugby world.

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Rugby Canada AGM Report and Financials: Sally Dennis Replaced by Kathleen McKinn as Chair of Rugby Canada

Rugby Canada held their AGM on April 12th and today released the AGM report and financials.

The Rugby Canada AGM Report is here. The financials are here.

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Rugby Canada National Training Centres to Focus on Women’s XVs

When the Rugby Canada Strategic Plan for 2024-2027 was announced there was some excitement around the National Training Centres initiative. In the plan it states the goal as “Develop high performance rugby centres of excellence in different cities or regions across the country to address the training and competition gap in women’s and men’s high performance rugby ensuring quality alignment with Rugby Canada’s national team strategic objectives.” There were thoughts of Pacific Pride type of programs in other regions of the country.

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Adam Roberts Resigns as U20 Head Coach; Scotland to Host 2024 JWRT

It’s difficult to get any answers out of Rugby Canada on the men’s U20 program, a critical link to the men’s XVs program. Stephen Aboud was announced in May 2023 as the head of the High Performance programs but 9 months later he’s doing his best impersonation of the invisible man.

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