Tyler Duguid Selected for France XV; Liam Poulton Top Canadian Try Scorer in RPL India; MLR Semis Include 15 Canadian Players
A couple of stories from across the world involving Canadian rugby players. Tyler Duguid who plays for Montpellier in the Top 14 has been selected for the France XV vs England XV. It’s unclear whether this is the official France “A” team which would capture Tyler for France and eliminate him from potential Canada selection down the road or if this is just a France XV which doesn’t officially capture him for France. Either way the chances of him playing for Canada now seem very slim. The match will be streamed on rugbypass.tv on Saturday.
Across the globe the Rugby Premier League in India is drawing some attention. The 7s tournament has a number of marquee players including 7 Canadians. Liam Poulton is the leading Canadian try scorer and his team is in 3rd place, the top 4 make the playoffs. There was an article in the Campbell River Mirror, “Esquimalt export makes a big hit in India’s Rugby Premier League”. The matches are streamed live on rugbypass.tv and the highlights are on the RPL YouTube channel.
The MLR semis involve 3 teams with Canadian players, Houston don’t have any Canadians in the roster. Utah has Spencer Jones, Nic Benn in the starting backline with Emerson Prior and Reid Davis on the bench for their semi against Houston. In the Chicago vs New England match, lots of Canadians, Chicago has Mason Flesch, Lucas Rumball and Jason Higgins at 6, 8, 9, on the bench is Matt Oworu. New England has Andrew Quattrin, Piers von Dadelszen, Ben Lesage, Brock Webster at 2, 4, 13, 15, on the bench is Foster Dewitt, Josh Larsen, Ethan Fryer.
From what I’ve read on some of the pacific islander rugby accounts on social media, this doesn’t count as an official capture. He’s still eligible to play for Canada. Take this with a grain of salt however, these teams always seem to be murky regarding these rules.