Rugby Canada Awards; Thunder Rugby Invited to BC Legislature; Toronto Wolfpack in Trouble; Six Nations Rugby Resumes in October; Super Rugby Aotearoa Final Round in Jeopardy
There hasn’t been a lot of local rugby news and we’ve been focusing lately on where rugby is actually being played, in Super Rugby Aotearoa, NZ. But it’s time to catch up on some local news and what’s happening outside of NZ.
Rugby Canada Awards
Rugby Canada recently held their annual Awards event, virtually. Here are this year’s winners.
Player of the Year (Men’s & Women’s Fifteens) – Matt Heaton, QC; Olivia DeMarchant, NB
Player of the Year (Men’s & Women’s Sevens) – Nathan Hirayama, BC; Britt Benn, ON
Young Player of the Year (Men’s and Women’s) – Will Percillier, BC; Elizabeth Gibson, ON
Coach of the Year (Men’s and Women’s) – Aaron McDonald, ON; Catherine Laing, AB
Match Official of the Year – Shanda Mosher Gallant, BC
Volunteer of the Year – Ian “Macca” Maclean, BC
Provincial Union of the Year – Rugby Alberta
Canadian Shield Award (Player’s Vote for Player of the Year – Men) – Patrick Parfrey, NFLD
Gillian Florence Award (Player’s Vote for Player of the Year – Women) – Olivia DeMarchant, NB
More information and videos are on the Rugby Canada facebook page.
Thunder Rugby Invited to BC Legislature
The BC Liberals and leader Andrew Wilkinson invited the Thunder Indigenous Rugby program to the BC Legislature on Tuesday. Phil Mack and Richard Hunt spoke briefly about the rugby program and the mask campaign. More information can be found on the Thunder website.
Toronto Wolfpack in Trouble
The Rugby League franchise seems to be in deep trouble and Toronto may become a one-team pro rugby city again with just the Arrows looking healthy enough to field a team in 2021. Here are a couple of articles that lay out the issue.
www.cbc.ca/sports/rugby/toronto-wolfpack-players-protest-paycheques-1.5681111
www.cbc.ca/sports/rugby/rugby-toronto-wolfpack-ownership-1.5672981
Six Nations Rugby Resumes in October
The Six Nations is set to resume in October. Details at: www.sixnationsrugby.com/2020/08/05/date-for-guinness-six-nations-2020-restart-announced/
ROUND 4
24/10/2020 Ireland V Italy Time TBC Aviva Stadium
ROUND 5
31/10/2020 Wales V Scotland 14:15 Venue TBC
31/10/2020 Italy V England 16:45 Stadio Olimpico
31/10/2020 France V Ireland 20:00 Stade de France
Super Rugby Aotearoa Last Round in Jeopardy
The last round of Super Rugby Aotearoa may be in jeopardy as four new cases of COVID-19 showed up in Auckland and the region has been put in Level 3 restrictions until Friday. It will be a last minute decision on whether those restrictions will be lifted or extended into the weekend.
Details at www.planetrugby.com/auckland-lockdown-puts-blues-v-crusaders-game-in-doubt/