Wet Weather Changes Some Weekend Matches; Logan Weidner Capped for Romania; Rugby Canada Changing Digital Platform; TBT to June 2011 at Buccaneer 7s
The wet weather has predictably changed some matches this weekend as municipalities, which own most of the rugby playing venues, are becoming increasingly more protective of the fields. It’s good to see some clubs being proactive in finding alternative venues. Westshore have moved their match vs JBAA to Starlight Stadium, the match is now at 7pm under the lights on Saturday. Other changes we’ve noted as of Thursday evening according to the BC Rugby fixture page, the UBC v Capilano men’s Premier match is now at Klahanie.
Another bit of information we’ve come across is Logan Weidner, who grew up playing for Capilano, was recently capped for Romania in the match against Georgia. Logan played in the MLR for a couple of seasons but wasn’t “captured” for Canada by the coaches in charge of the Canada’s men’s XVs team, Kingsley Jones and Stephen Meehan. It’s a little reminiscent of the Tyler Duguid story where the Canada coaches snoozed and he ended up getting capped by France.
Another bit of news, Rugby Canada is changing its digital platform, and that includes registration from SportLomo to PlayHQ although the Rugby Canada website still links to SportLomo when you click the Play Rugby button on their website. Ashley Lewis who is the Managing Director NSO Services at Rugby Canada had this to say, “Yes it has replaced Sportlomo. Many clubs are up and running on it now for 2026 with more coming on as the season gets closer”. So we’ve gone from an Ireland based service in Sportlomo to an Australian one in PlayHQ. There’s also an app, I downloaded it but couldn’t login or sign up, so talk to your Provincial rep, BCRU will likely make the transition over the summer before the 2026-27 season.
TBT
Here’s a video from June 2011, the Buccaneer 7s. JBAA won the tournament with a lineup that Canada would be proud of Phil Mack, John Moonlight, Morgan and Jeff Williams, Thyssen de Goede, Connor Braid…
I dont think anyone snoozed on Duguid he just refused to play for rugby canada do to what happened to his uncle plus really play for tier 1 nation or tier 2/3 money allow speaks for itself.
It would have had to happen in 2019 I think, Tyler was outstanding on the Canada U20 team, U20 teammate Will Percillier was capped in 2019. After that COVID, the way they treated his uncle, by 2022 it was too late. Good for Tyler in the long run it seems, see if he gets picked for the France RWC squad.
“It’s a little reminiscent of the Tyler Duguid story where the Canada coaches snoozed and he ended up getting capped by France”….
Not the case at all…In Duguid’s case, clearly wasn’t a situation where Canada “missed” him, he was very obviously focused on pursuing a pathway with France, which makes complete sense looking at the bigger picture. He’d come through the espoirs system over there and was operating within the espoirs structure, so he already had a strong foothold in French rugby.
On top of that, committing to Canada would have worked against him professionally. Being capped would have designated him as a foreign player in France, which makes it significantly harder to secure and retain a contract. As it stood, he benefited from JIFF status, which is hugely valuable for clubs, so from a career standpoint, staying aligned with France kept far more doors open.
And then there’s the international opportunity. He was clearly backing himself to break into a French team (which he did and got capped) that competes for 6N titles and World Cups….a that’s a very different proposition to Canada’s current position on the global stage where we didn’t qualify for the last WC!
Hard to fault that decision at all… it’s a rational, professional choice. Expecting someone in that position to turn that down would be a bit like a fringe NHL player with French eligibility choosing not to pursue Team Canada. It just doesn’t really stack up.
There was a window of opportunity after Tyler graduated from the Canada U20 program in 2019. In 2021 he was named to the 40 player long list for the July tests. Once it became apparent he had a shot at the France team all bets were off. The way RC treated his uncle and other factors around 2021 no doubt didn’t help. I heard from a solid source he was offered a Canada A spot by Kingsley on the tour to South America, think 2022, and by that point, that was just an insult.
Logan Weidner is Casey Dunning with a better publicist. The US didn’t want him, now Romania, flailing around for anyone who will cop to wearing their jersey, snagged him. Other than Canada, the only other Tier 2 team on a one way track to the bottom is Romania. Re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.