After a sterling Day 1 defeating Germany and host Senegal, Canada ran into the reality of Tier 1 rugby nations and were outgunned by France and Argentina. Canada lost to France 58-0, 10 tries to none. Then they faced Argentina for the Bronze, that went Argentina’s way 36-5, Nolan Grealy scoring Canada’s only try of the day. France would go on to win Gold, defeating South Africa 26-19 in the final.
Today’s article was going to be on the BC club youth competitions taking place this fall, getting caught up on the standings but the BCRU put out a media release this morning that dovetails nicely with that and provides a pathway for players in those competitions. The BCRU release is below but first we’ll catch up on what’s happening at the U16 and U18 club competitions.
In 2025 BC teams won 8 out of the 10 titles and 4 out of 4 of the Elite/Competitive titles. In 2026 BC won 4 out of the 10 titles and 1 out of 4 of the Elite/Competitive titles. In 2026 Alberta teams were the big winners, despite only representing 20% of the entrants they claimed 60% of the titles and 75% of the Elite titles. Is this an anomaly or does it mark a shift in youth rugby?
The club junior leagues kick off on September 27th in XVs, prior to that is the Kamloops 7s which is this coming weekend. The final this year is back on the Island as it alternates between Mainland and Island, Starlight Stadium will be the venue. The schedule isn’t posted yet. The BCRU are transitioning between SportLomo and PlayHQ systems and it’s not going smoothly. The senior leagues still don’t have the tries and bonus points entered from the past weekend. When the junior schedules are available we’ll update this article.
It feels like rugby season is almost here as the last 7s tournament of the summer wrapped up. The UVic Vikes won the men’s title defeating Pacific Warriors in the final. The Warriors had won all the mainland titles this year (SFU 7s, Bayside 7s) but weren’t able to add the Westshore 7s to their trophy case. Along the way UVic defeated hosts Westshore. UVic had two teams entered and it was a chance to see some of the emerging talent in their XVs program this season. In the U18 divisions it was Thunder and Thunder winning both boys and girls titles. The program had just wrapped up a week long camp at Shawnigan Lake school and it looks like the program has some emerging talent. This group will form the core of their next NZ tour. Westshore won the U16 girls title.
The Howlers wrapped up their tour this weekend, 1 win and 2 losses, but the scope is much larger than the results on the field. The benefits to the young players and in a year or so, to the Canada U20 program, will be significant. Also the rugby contacts made with Argentine and Buenos Aires rugby administrators and players will pay dividends down the road. Kudos to the Howlers, Karl Fix, the supporters and most importantly the players for taking on this gruelling tour to one of the bastions of amateur rugby. Also a shout out to the man in Argentina who helped put this together, Les Cusworth.
The Youth Olympics first started in 2010, it’s focused on U18 athletes. Rugby 7s was introduced in 2014 in China and continued on in Argentina in 2018. The 2022 Youth Olympics were scrubbed due to COVID disruptions and now Senegal are hosting in 2026. Canada have won medals in 2014 and 2018, both by the women’s U18 team, Silver in China and Bronze in Argentina. This is the first time the Canadian U18 men have been entered in the Youth Olympics Rugby 7s. The Canadian women are not entered, the USA women are the only entry from the Americas region.
There are a couple of U18 events overlapping in August. The Canadian Howlers, formerly the Dog River Howlers, are taking an elite team of Canadian U18 players to Argentina for three matches. Their program is linked below. Also Rugby Canada are holding U18 camps for men and women. The Howlers itinerary, roster and full tour program are listed below. Also the names of the players attending the Rugby Canada camps are listed below.
I was browsing through Linkedin and came across this interesting post by Bob Skinstad on South African high school rugby. It was a map of which high schools produce the most Springboks. It had me thinking about Canadian high school rugby factories, which high schools produce the most Canadian internationals (XVs)? That picture changes over time but I thought I’d at least broach the subject as I don’t think Rugby Canada or the provincial unions track that information. I’ve started a basic list for BC and hopefully readers will help add to the list, I’ll also reach out to some school administrators to see if they maintain comprehensive lists from their school.
The regional U17 girls rugby 7s wrapped up at the BC Summer Games on Sunday. Fraser River won Gold, Island won Silver and Fraser Valley won Bronze. Fraser River is the Burnaby/Surrey area and Fraser Valley is the Abbotsford/Langley area. In the top 4 semi-finals it was Fraser River defeating Fraser Valley 20-10 and Island defeating Okanagan 22-5. In the medal games it was Fraser Valley over Island 22-5 for Gold/Silver and Fraser Valley over Okanagan 22-17 in the Bronze/4th match. Finishing 5th were Vancouver, 6th Cariboo, 7th Kootenays and 8th Northwest. Overall at the games Vancouver won 122 medals (43 gold, 45 silver, 34 bronze) and Island won 121 medals (44 gold, 39 silver, 38 bronze), finishing top two, the winner depending on whether you count total medals or gold medals.