New CUMRC Format Means UVic or UBC Will Be Omitted from Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship for First Time - two most successful men's university programs in Canada but only one place at the tournament
Meehan Names 32 Player Squad for September Tests in Japan - 6 starters missing from Zimbabwe match, new skills coach
NZ NPC Competition – 2026
NPC Starts This Weekend – A List of Canadian Players Who Have Competed in the NPC
I noticed the NZ NPC started this weekend, there’s only one game result at time of writing, Waikato 38–26 Bay of Plenty. That started me on a research thread, how many Canadian internationals have played in the NPC? I’ve come up with 13 names to date, here’s the process, I asked Bob my Ai assistant and came up with 7 names after some to and fro questioning. I then went to a human expert, Bryan Ray, he added 4 more names. I then used social media feedback, and I got 2 more names there. Here are the 13 names, below that are the prediction odds for the current season if you’re interested, then below that is a reflection on how Ai should be used in research, a subject that applies beyond rugby.
Update: Nic Benn is in the reserves, #23 for Hawkes Bay vs Wellington this weekend, he’ll be #14.
HSBC 2027 SVNS Series
Schedule for 2027 SVNS Series Announced: Vancouver March 6-7
The Vancouver 7s returns for 2027 in the same time slot, after Perth and before New York, on March 6-7. Again it’s a two day event on Saturday and Sunday. The Canadian women’s team came 5th in Vancouver last year and were 3rd overall in the series. The men played a Challenger series in Vancouver against Chile and Japan, Rugby Canada haven’t announced the details of that event yet for 2027. The 2027 SVNS series kicks off on November 28-29 in Dubai.
BCRU Updates – July 2026
BCRU Hiring Administrative Coordinator for a Temporary Contract
The BCRU put out a job posting today for a temporary Admin Coordinator that basically covers the fall season, starting late August and going until near the winter break in December. Application deadline is August 1st and it pays $4,200 a month. Details and how to apply are mentioned below.
BC Summer Games – 2026
Fraser River Win Gold, Island Silver, Fraser Valley Bronze
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.
U19 Canadian Rugby Championship 2026
Ontario Win Gold, BC Silver in Men’s and Women’s U19 Championship
It wasn’t to be the day for BC as they lost both final matches against Ontario on Sunday. The women came close, leading for most of the match but giving up two tries in the last 5 minutes to lose 17-7. The men were defeated 44-12 and trailed in the match from the beginning. Jack Gore the Ontario #10 and team captain scored 29 points. The BC U17 teams wrapped up their 3 game series on Saturday, Ontario won both matches. The bright spot for BC were the U17 women who, despite losing Saturday’s game, won the series against Ontario with 2 wins and 1 loss. The BC U17 men had a record of 1 win and 2 losses. Kudos to host Ontario who claim the title of top province this year in age-grade rugby. We haven’t heard where next year’s tournament will be held yet.
Stories from the Rugby Community
Community Rugby Stories – Alexandra Schlosser from Trail RFC
At the beginning of the month we ran a promo on Instagram, send us your rugby story and we’ll send you a BCRN rugby ball. Alexandra Schlosser from Trail RFC jumped on that like a loose forward at a ruck, we can tell she’s the type of rugby player you want on your team. Below is her rugby story on how she discovered rugby and what it means to her. We’ll give away one ball a month, if you’re interested in entering, email editor@bcrugbynews.com your rugby story (about 500 words) and you could be August’s winner.
Junior World U20 Championship – 2026
South Africa Crowned Junior World Championship 2026 Winners: Uruguay in Relegation Position
As no surprise the Baby Boks claimed the U20 title for the second year in a row, France were 2nd, NZ 3rd and England 4th. At the lower end of the tournament USA defeated Uruguay putting Uruguay in the potential relegation position as the 16th place team. World Rugby still haven’t clarified what relegation/promotion will look like between the U20 Championship and U20 Challenger tournaments. Canada are in the Challenger tournament in October hosted by Chile along with Belgium, Hong King China, Brazil, Namibia, Portugal, Romania and Chile.
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