Georgia, Spain, Portugal and Romania have all qualified for the RWC 2027 after weekend action that saw the countries secure semi-final spots in the European Championships. There are now 8 places left in the expanded 24 team World Cup in Australia. Those spots available are Pacific 1 to 3, Africa 1, Asia 1, South America 1, South America/Pacific playoff winner, Repechage winner.
The Canadian men have a date in March in South Africa. There they will play two back to back tournaments and hope to finish in the top 8 or their journey is over. Only the top 8 teams will move on to Poland in April, and then only the top 4 will move on to LA for the promotion/relegation tournament in May.
World Rugby announced the pools for the women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025. Canada, ranked #2, will face Scotland, Wales and Fiji in the pool round. The top two teams in each pool advance to the quarter-finals.
The World Cup 2025 draw will take place October 17th with the schedule to be released on October 22nd. Canada as the #2 team will be in Band #1 so will avoid other Band #1 teams in the pool round, the Band #1 teams will be #1 England, #2 Canada, #3 NZ, #4 France.
Canada can rise to #2 in the World Rugby rankings overtaking NZ on Sunday with a win over France. The result of the NZ vs Ireland match won’t improve NZ’s World Rugby ranking due to the large ranking difference between NZ and Ireland.
Rugby Canada made a strange post on Instagram today that seemed out of character and out of date. It referenced an October 2023 World Rugby Council decision, that came into effect on August 1 2024, and it’s now September 17th. There was no corresponding World Rugby announcement except the one in August. The Rugby Canada article is posted below.
The question of whether Canada would still host the 7s Series in 2025, now that the men’s team are no longer part of the core group, has been answered. Yes, Vancouver will be the 4th stop on the 2025 series.
Canada failed to make the 2023 World Cup, it was the first time in history the men’s XVs failed to qualify. The 2027 World Cup in Australia is expanded to 24 teams, so 4 more teams will qualify for the tournament.
Three BC match officials have been named to the World Rugby appointments for the WXV tournaments. Julianne Zussman will officiate at WXV 1 in Vancouver, Chris Assmus will be TMO at WXV 2 in South Africa and Shanda Assmus will officiate at WXV 3 in Dubai. All tournaments take place over September and October 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.