Canada

Five players will make their run-on debuts for Canada against the Argentina XV in the opening round of the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship on Saturday. Caps will not be awarded as the match does not have full test status, but Head Coach Mark Anscombe has given chances for several young …

Argentina XV Head Coach Felipe Contepomi has named a highly aggressive team to face Canada. In naming his side he has declared to attack the North Americans in Langford. As a player Contepomi was a part of the changing of the guard. From Grizz Wylie’s tight game plan to increasingly …

The Eagles are on the same level as Canada when it comes to burning desire for more high level competition for their best domestic talent. Their player numbers are increasing and yet there is no nationwide agreement on player pathway. PRO Rugby afforded a glimmer of hope but its demise …

Americas players have long been forced to balance their professional club careers with international availability, with test rugby often coming second in terms of priority, at least outside of the World Cup. Things have been further complicated with the UAR’s new policy of excluding European-based professionals from Pumas selection. There …

Canada’s thirst for more high level fixtures was quenched in 2016 with the addition of the Americas Rugby Championship proving a major step in the development of top amateur talent. While not quite top flight competition, the games gave the best of Canada’s domestic players a chance to test themselves …

Our last weekend focused on domestic rugby until the end of March was an interesting one. With no Premiership or Pro 12 we were given the two French divisions and the Anglo-Welsh cup to pine over, with no players coming from the Championship. Thankfully there were plenty of decent performances …

Like Brazil, the Chileans have benefited greatly from the re-development of the Americas Rugby Championship. Their 2016 total of 11 tests is almost three times as many as the four they played in 2015, and the first time they’ve had more than seven in a calendar year since 2005. While …

The Breakthrough Player of the Year is somewhat of a loosely defined category. It doesn’t necessitate that a player has achieved international stardom, nor does it require a player to necessarily have achieved international recognition at all. Any player who has demonstrated a significant rise in their standards over the …

The introduction of the Americas Rugby Championship has given Brazil a major boost not just in terms of competition standards but perhaps more importantly in sheer volume of test matches. Previously they would go no higher than six tests in a calendar year – in 2016 they had a record …

Olympic Bronze medalist Jen Kish returns to the Canadian lineup for the first time since leading the team in the historic event in Brazil as Canada prepare to resume the HSBC Sevens Series in Sydney this coming weekend. Fellow Olympian Ghislaine Landry will retain the captaincy, however, with Kish instead …