Canada

PRO Rugby year one is in the books. The Denver Stampede are inaugural champions, lifting the unnamed trophy, and the verdict from American fans is unanimous – they want more. More teams, more players, more games, more exposure. It’s onwards and upwards from here. Before we look at where things …

Another week with no overseas competitions yet on the go. With the Rugby Championship and Top 14 set to start this weekend it will make a more competitive team next week, but in the meantime we reach almost exclusively into the URBA Top 14 for our weekly draft. The lone …

The French domestic championship – the Top 14 – starts a new season on Saturday. Competing for the ultimate prize in France will be clubs from large cities and small towns. They come from far and wide with the competition increasingly being nationwide as south-west small town representation has deteriorated. In the …

The wishes of Canadian rugby fans appear to have been answered. TSN will be broadcasting the opening round of The Rugby Championship this weekend. While the broadcaster has not made an official announcement and has not replied to inquiries about the tournament as a whole, an update to their schedule …

A new season of Top 14 rugby begins on Saturday. The opening round kicks off less than two months after the 2016 final was played in Barcelona. The quick turnaround is due to Rugby World Cup 2015 having delayed matches in the early part of the 2015-2016 season. With there being …

Up and Under is a weekly feature on Americas Rugby News which reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week. UP Canada Women’s Sevens Spirit and utter determination from captain Jen Kish and her team saw Canada winning Bronze at the Olympics Games …

Former Canada u20 representative Josh Larsen has been selected to play for Northland in the Mitre 10 Cup. The Vancouver-born lock was in the Otago B group last season but will be part of the senior Taniwha squad in the upcoming provincial competition. He has previously lined up for Otago …

Jake Ilnicki has signed to play for Manawatu Turbos in the Mitre 10 Cup. The Canadian international prop replaces Hubert Buydens on the Manawatu roster after his San Diego Breakers teammate suffered a season-ending knee injury while on PRO Rugby duty. Ilnicki arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday and is …

Canada have made three changes to their original ‘A’ squad headed to the UK next week. Benoît Pifféro, Ben LeSage, and Phil Mackenzie have dropped out of the two-match trip. Called up as replacements are Eric Howard and two uncapped midfielders, Doug Fraser and Sam Hayward. Ontario Blues standout Howard …

The governing body of Italian rugby, the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) is pushing ahead with its World Cup candidacy. In what is a second attempt at securing Rugby World Cup hosting rights, Italy has listed twelve stadiums spread around the country. The Central European country hopes to become the first ever European …