High School Rugby – August 2026

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Which High Schools Produce the Most Canadian Internationals?

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.

First the article by Skinstad that initiated this line of thought.

by Bob Skinstad on Linkedin

Every weekend, rugby is being played somewhere across the country. Over the years, school rugby has grown as popular as club rugby. Some of these South African schools have rivalries that even outpace international fixtures. This map highlights our top Springbok-producing schools, but it also proves that school size doesn’t equal excellence. It comes down to the environment, coaching and attention to detail. Springboks aren’t just born. Talent is identified and placed in an environment where it can grow and be showcased.

When we think of BC some schools come immediately to mind Shawnigan, St. George’s, SMUS, Brentwood, Oak Bay, Carson Graham, Earl Marriott… from the past Vic High. Here is the basic list from BC, what would be your guess for top 3 schools? Add names via the comments section.

High School Notable Capped Canadian Alumni (XVs) Era & Program Profile (by Ai assistant)
Oak Bay Secondary (21) Frank Carson, Don Carson, Evan Jones, Paul Monaghan, Dave Sinnott, Chris Fowler, Paul Vaeson, Mark Wyatt, Norm Hadley, Chris Whittaker, Winston Stanley,  Fred Asselin, Jared Barker, Callum Morrison, Phil Mack, Mitch Gudgeon, Sean White,  Connor Braid, Luke Campbell, Sophie de Goede, Caroline Crossley Premier Public Powerhouse: Elite dual-gender pipeline for both 15s and 7s. Anchored by world-class standard-bearers like de Goede and Mack.
Shawnigan Lake School (20) John Lecky, Tommy Fraine, Larry Chung, Charlie MacLachlan, Ian Hyde-Lay, Ian Kennedy, Paul Leblanc, Josh Jackson, Chad Plater, Akio Tyler, Matt Evans, Eddie Evans, George Barton, Dustin Dobravsky, Brett Beukeboom, Djustice Sears-Duru, Guiseppe du Toit, Ollie Nott, Matt Beukeboom, Jack Shaw Island Boarding Titan: Dominant provincial 15s program over the last two decades, consistently supplying physical forwards and clinical finishers.
St. George’s School (14) Mike Chambers, Barry Stubbs, Tim Cummings, Tommy Fraine, Barry Legh, Robbie Grieg, Andrew Bibby, Pat Palmer, Ian Cooper, Richard Bice, Stan McKeen, Tyler Hotson, Conor Trainor, Theo Sauder Mainland Private Standard: Perennial AAA contender producing dynamic, highly skilled backs for both 15s and World Series 7s squads.
St. Michaels University School (SMUS) (14) Andrew Heaman, John Graf, Jeremy Cordle, Jason Penaluna, Rob Card, Mike Danskin, Dave Spicer, Mike Fuailefau, Quinn Ngawati, Gareth Rees, Ed Fairhurst, Bobby Ross, Mike Pyke, Rob Frame Historic Private Mainstay: One of North America’s most decorated international feeder programs across multiple World Cup eras.
Brentwood College School (12) John Newton, Ro Hindson, Dwaine van Eeuwen, Marius Felix, Tony Arthurs, Michael Holmes, Gregor Dixon, Sean Fauth, Stirling Richmond, Tyler Wish, Will Percillier Historic Independent Standard: Produced one of Canada’s greatest all-time locks in Ro Hindson, alongside modern national scrum-halves.
Carson Graham Secondary Hilary Leith, Erika Smortchevsky, D’arcy Patterson, Andrea Burk, Savannah Bauder, Jason Marshall, Ron Johnstone, Mike Langley, Ryan Stewart North Shore Anchor: The foundational public school titan of Mainland rugby for decades, producing world-class, physical forwards.
Earl Marriott Secondary (EMS) Talon McMullin, Takoda McMullin, Izzak Kelly, Calixto Martinez, Michael Smith, Kyle Tremblay The Modern Engine: Powered by the Bayside Sharks network, EMS currently supplies the single largest block of modern starters to Canada’s Senior Men’s XV.
Abbotsford Ken Peace, Mike Schmid, Harry Toews, John Cannon, Ryan Banks Fraser Valley Physical Engine: Powered by the Abbotsford RFC pipeline, Abbotsford Senior was the primary Fraser Valley feeder into the national program throughout the late 1990s and 2000s. It produced multiple World Cup captains and hard-nosed, world-class physical forwards and hard-running backs
Vic High (Victoria High School) Hans de Goede, Mark Wyatt, Don Burgess, Mark Cardinal The Heritage Cradle: Western Canada’s oldest public school anchored Canadian international rugby from the 1960s to 1990s, producing World XV captains and world-record kickers.
Claremont Secondary Mick Eckardt, Casey Walt, Chuck Shergold, Rob Robson Like Carson Graham on the Mainland, Claremont produced hard-nosed, physical forwards who went on to anchor both provincial Crimson Tide rosters and senior national squad packs.
West Vancouver Secondary Christoph Strubin, Charlie Jones, Harry Jones, Mike Webb The WVSS Highlanders have a history of success on the pitch, including winning local and provincial championships
Esquimalt High School Tom Woods, Pat Dunkley, Rob Frame Esquimalt High School is a major addition to the Greater Victoria rugby landscape. It bridges the gap between public school athletic programs and the historic James Bay Athletic Association (JBAA) pipeline.
Cowichan Secondary Patrick Kay, Robin MacDowell Cowichan Valley Hub: Deep connection to Cowichan RFC, producing top-tier national 7s/15s internationals and Olympians.
Prince of Wales Secondary Sean Duke Vancouver West Side Hub: Produced Canada’s all-time try-scoring leader on the World Rugby Sevens Series (plus 14 senior 15s caps).
Reynolds Secondary Dave Ramsay Produced JBAA multi-championship captain and Canadian lock Dave Ramsay. Canada international Chuck Shergold coached and taught there.
Ladysmith Secondary Doug Fraser Also Kyle Haley in 7s
Posted in Front Page, Youth Rugby.

18 Comments

  1. Luke Campbell is a Oak Bay Graduate

    Oak Bay has also produced

    Jared Baker
    winston Stanley
    Chris Whittaker
    Mark Wyatt
    Don Carson
    Caroline Crossley

    The private school have a unfair stat as they are allowed to recruit players and the public schools can’t

  4. What is probably a more interesting (and telling) statistic is how many high/middle schools have rugby programs (male and female). I asked BC Rugby a while ago to provide a list and they thought that would be a good idea and asked would I have time to do that survey. They don’t seem to get good information from BC Schools sports across all those school levels for both girls and boys (they have AAA, AA, etc. rankings) without more details on fledgling programs. More interestingly, what is the historical trend across each of the regions? Certainly within the lower island, I would say we have been trending downward over the last few decades. Many schools that had programs back in the eighties/nineties no longer have programs or are diminished in terms of participation. My guess is that Vancouver is in worst shape in terms of high/middle school programs uptake of rugby. If the game is going to improve, we need to strive that rugby strvives to take a place beside all of the more popular sports (basketball, volleyball, track and field, etc.). In that case, I think you would see more schools represented as fielding national team players.

  6. Mark You have opened the door so let me help you close it.
    OBS BARBARIANS have produced the most male Canadian
    Internationals of any High School in Canada.Most international
    Coaches, as well.
    HH Jono
    F Carson 1970, D Carson 73, I Benson 74, E Jones 74, P Monaghan 75 , D Sinnott 75
    P Trelawney 75, C Fowler 76, P Vaeson 78, M Wyatt 80, N Hadley 82, C Whittaker 90.
    W Stanley 92, F Asselin 92, J Barker 93, J Frender 96, C Morrison 03, P Mack 03,
    M Gudgeon 04, S White 06, C Braid 08, L Campbell 11, L Kratz 19, J Carson 20.
    Apologize to any Barbs that I have missed. Over to you Murds

    1

  10. Claremont

    Jeff Hurford

    Smu
    Andrew Heaman
    John Graf
    Jeremy Cordle
    Jason Penaluna
    Rob Card
    Mike Danskin
    David Spicer
    Mike Fuailefau
    Luke McCloskey
    Quinn Ngawati
    Kiri Ngawati

    • John Langley. West Van HS. Christoph Strubin, Charlie Jones, Harry Jones, Mike Webb..
      Carsen Graham HS. Erica Shandt, D’arcy Patterson, Andrea Burke, Hilary Leith, Savannah Bowder. Men, Jason Marshall, Ron Johnstone, Mike Langley, Ryan Stewart apologies to anyone I missed.

    • Semiahmoo contributed their share as well. To name a few; Mike Tupper, Ron Toews, Chris Michaluk, Steve Christianson, Jon Thiel, Joe Haley, Mark Irvine, Nick Milau, Adam Kleeburger. Plus numerous 7’s and age grade Internationals

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