RUGBYca Magazine - Volume 3 Issue 2 Fall 2015

SEVENS PREVIEW

PACIFIC NATIONS CUP RECAP

FALL 2015 ISSUE 8

PAN AM

THANK YOU

GRAHAM BROWN

GOLD RUSH!

PAGE 49

CRC 2015

CHAMPS PAGE 16

TRYTASTIC! DTH VAN DER MERWE SHINES AT THE RUGBY WORLD CUP

PAGE 21

LOOK BACK AT

2015 RWC PAGE 28

RUGBY WORLD CUP FAN TOUR DIARY PAGE 35 DTH POST RWCW INTERVIE PAGE 43

1

JOHN MOONLIGHT FLANKER, RUGBY CANADA

2

CONTENTS

FALL 2015 Issue 08

In this Issue

The features

43

15

NEW FORMAT FOR 2015 AGE GRADE CRC NETS GREAT COMPETITION

COVER Story

Showcase young talent from across the country BY Matt Tidcombe

19 21 25 28

Womens super series

Women’s Rugby Super Series about growth in 2015 BY Mark JANZEN

Women and men in the pan am games

BY Brock Smith

PACIFIC NATIONS CUP

Missed Chances at Pacific Nations Cup BY Matt Tidcombe

world Cup RECAP

Highlights from the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England

BY Matt Tidcombe and Adam Kyriacou

46 49 51

Sevens preview

Sevens

A look at both men and women’s BY mark janzen

THANK YOU!

A One on One Exclusive with CEO Graham Brown BY Doug crosse

world rugby sevens referees

Labreche, the sole Canadian BY doug crosse

52 55

EXPANSION OF CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

RUGBY CANADA press release

DTH SOARS

COVER

Canada’s WING, DTH van der Merwe, scores four tries at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.

19

Toronto High School Sevens BY BROCK SMITH

21

25

43

DTH van der Merwe

The swerve from the Merwe got him four World Cup tries BY Doug crosse

The insiders 4 Freeze Frame

The best rugby images from the past months

8 Message from Rugby Canada & THE Editor 10 The Engine Room Not all rugby news happens on the pitch

48

29

12 Socially Speaking

Who is saying what on the web and the twitterverse

35 spotlight

A Rugby World Cup to remember By Juliet Sullivan

48 Fundraising

Support your rugby community

57 community

partners in the pursuit of excellence

Join coaches, administrators, and leaders at the 2016 National Rugby Conference

58 The Last Word Langford

Jim Dixon talks about Rugby’s Canada’s busy year

COVER: DTH van der merwe had a breakout 2015 rugby world cup. Photo by colin watson

3

FREEZE FRAME

PRESENTED BY

GOLD MEDAL TRY! Harry Jones was the hero in the gold medal match vs Argentina at the 2015 Pan Am Games, scoring as time expired for the win.

Photo

Les Jones 4

5

FREEZE FRAME

PRESENTED BY

Rugby Weather Lindsay and Waterloo had a wet day for a game in this award winning photo by José Lagman, which saw the shot featured at downtown Toronto camera store.

Photo

José Lagman 6

7

FIRST WORDS FALL 2015 Number 08

Message from the Chairman

We can be better

Publisher Rugby Canada

Editor Doug Crosse

Sub-Editor Ian Kennedy

Now that the Rugby World Cup is over, we must reflect upon the enormity of the challenge Canada faces to compete at this level.

Design & Layout PIX Lorne Collicutt Paige Stewart Juliet Sullivan Ian Muir

Contributing Writers Matt Tidcombe Juliet Sullivan Mark Janzen Doug Crosse

We can be extremely proud of the effort of Canada’s entire team. We competed at an extraordinary level for all but the final 20 minutes of the tournament.

JAG

Photography José Lagman Ron Leblanc JAG Colin Watson

Brock Smith Penny Kroll Bryan Kelly

Advertising Sales Mike Thorne 30 East Beaver Creek Unit 110, Richmond Hill, ON (905) 707-8998 x 231 mthorne@rugbycanada.ca

Canada competed well in all of its games, and in the points standing, it was ahead of all other fifth place countries, having finished within seven points in two of our matches. It could have so easily been much better, but that is the heartbreak that goes with sport. I thank the players, coaches and support staff for their total commitment.

Printer Litho Color

RUGBYca magazine is home-delivered to member households (1 per household) three times a year (May, August, November). Delivery addresses are based on the registration information submitted to Rugby Canada. Rugby Canada provincial unions are strongly encouraged to provide all Union Executive Member and program participants’ current mailing information in order to receive the subscription.

Any address changes should be notified to both the local rugby union and Rugby Canada through the registration system.

RC Board of Directors PAT ALDOUS KEITH GILLAM GORDON SNEDDON JAY JOHNSTON TROY MYERS LARRY JONES DOUG CAMPBELL TIM POWERS JAMIE LOCKWOOD PEARSE HIGGINS KATHY HENDERSON JOHN SEAMAN BRIAN BURKE CHRIS LE FEVRE DAWN DAUPHINEE MARK LAWSON RICK POWERS RICK BOURNE Chris Lefevre

Chairman Vice Chairman Secretary Treasurer Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Female Athlete Rep. Male Athlete Rep. COC Representative Past Chairman/NACRA Rep. World Rugby Council Rep

CANADA POST CORPORATION agreement no.

42619013 8

The completion of the Rugby World Cup is concurrent with the end of CEO Graham Brown’s 13 years of service to Rugby Canada. Graham has played an important role in growing Rugby Canada into one of the most respected National Sport Organizations in Canada. He has also become a leading advocate for team sports in Canada. We owe him a debt of gratitude for his contribution. Of course, Graham will continue to be one of sport’s outstanding leaders in Canada and we wish him every success in the future.

Yours in rugby,

Pat Aldous Rugby Canada Chairman

Message from the EDITOR

Dear RUGBYca Readers,

JAG

RUGBYca magazine is published three times a year by Rugby Canada , 30 East Beaver Creek, Unit 110, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 1J2. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use, in whole or in part, by any means without the express written consent of the publisher is prohibited. Manuscripts, artwork and photographs are submitted at the sender’s risk.

All materials submitted will remain property of Rugby Canada.

Views expressed herein are not necessarily those of this magazine, Rugby Canada or its sponsors. No article herein shall constitute endorsement by this magazine or the persons and organizations associated with it. RUGBYca magazine will not knowingly accept fraudulent or misleading advertising.

Subscriptions are available at a cost of $12.95 per annum, payable to Rugby Canada care of RUGBYca magazine. All Rugby Canada and Rugby Canada member union logos and marks depicted in this magazine are the property of Rugby Canada and their respective member unions and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the Rugby Canada Marketing Committee. PRINTED IN CANADA.

Having said that, the outcome is very disappointing and it is not good enough. The most disappointing of all of the Tier 2 nations were Canada and the USA, and there are reasons why the North American teams did not compete to their potential.

What we are doing now is inadequate and must be changed. Rugby Canada will now complete a detailed review of the Senior Men’s program and then initiate the necessary steps to rectify the problems that are identified in the review.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup has been of the highest level. The Rugby Football Union, World Rugby, and England Rugby 2015 have been working in partnership with the rugby community volunteers to deliver the best possible Rugby World Cup. I congratulate them all for a job very well done!

This is an exciting time for us at RUGBYca! It is our first issue that will have World Cup coverage and that means lots of great stories and fantastic photos to fill the pages of this already terrific magazine.

Juxtapositioned against the excitement in England is the sad news that Rugby Canada CEO Graham Brown will be former CEO by the time this issue reaches your mailbox. Graham has achieved a tremendous amount for the sport and the organization since the day I first interviewed him in the boardroom of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association back in 2002, just after he had been chosen CEO. In terms of this publication, it would not be here without the passion and drive of Graham. He

came up with the concept and then delivered the finances to make it happen and more importantly he generated the support it needed from stakeholders across the country.

Canadian InterUniversity Sport will be a lucky to have Graham but Rugby Canada will know they have a good rugby man looking out for the sports’ interest moving forward. (Read my personal exit interview with Graham on page 49) Good luck Graham and thanks for all you have done during your time at Rugby Canada.

Sincerely,

Doug Crosse RUGBYca Editor RUGBY ONTARIO - Provincial Logo FOR PRINT USE ONLY

Thanks to the Provincial Unions

PIX

04-10-

9

THE ENGINE ROOM Not all rugby news happens on The PITCH

01 C

CAMP 04 SUMMER SUCCESS!

Lougheed recovers stolen Jerseys

algary’s Dave Lougheed has played many important games for Canada spanning from the mid 1990s to the 2000s. One of the side benefits of this effort was being able to swap kit at the end of the game with his opposite number. But on July 9th his impressive collection of 30 match worn opposition jerseys was part of a nearly $20,000 heist of goods from his garage.

Rather than sit glumly filling out insurance forms to recover a stolen bike and three sets of golf clubs, the social media savvy Lougheed got the word out about the pinched kit, leading to extensive coverage in local and national press. It was the result of that word getting out that got locals on the trail when a box of his jerseys fell off a truck a few weeks later.

That led police to execute a search

02

PRESENTED BY

warrant at a home in the 1700 block of 35th Street S.E. on July 14, where they recovered a large amount of stolen property, including the golf clubs and bike. An arrest was made a day later at a

Moyse Heading Deeeep South

40C! -BRR

nearby hotel where three suspects were found with a number of the jerseys.

“Once you know it’s gone you never expect to see it come back,” said Lougheed.

03

Rugby Looks North!

A new summer rugby camp co-sponsored by Rugby Canada and Upright Rugby created a fantastic new learning environment for nearly 80 young male and female rugby players this past summer.

The five day camp was housed at the prestigious St Andrew’s College in Aurora and featured many coaches from the Rugby Canada ranks including Jeff Williams (Rugby Canada U20 Men’s Coach) Francois Ratier and Shaun Allen (Rugby Canada Women’s coaches) along with Rugby Ontario high performance director David Butcher and Upright Rugby’s Director and President Tyler Leggatt.

“It was a great experience for the kids,” reported Legatt. “It was a very interactive camp and from the feedback we got the players really took away a lot from their time with us.”

The camp will be expanded in 2016 and is set to take place in either late July or early August.

We are always excited to see rugby grow across Canada, but generally think in terms of East and West. You can add north to the rugby compass now as the Yukon Visit our new is featuring a new rugby club! information section Aptly named the Gold Diggers, on our website the freshly minted team played in rugby.ca/tips for the latest a tournament in Alaska called the training, nutrition and Midnight Sun Sevens. technical information about Possibly the most valuable player for the sport you love! the Gold Diggers is Darrin Sinclair who not only got things done on the rugby pitch, but also featured in a big chunk of iPad the team’s 30 hour drive to Anchorage.

EditionALIFIED! The team continues to organize QUa Download touch and gentle contact rugby in GOLD RUSH! digital version 2015 Whitehorse – and is always on the RWC TIME (French or SWERVE TRYlookout for new players.

MERWE TASTIC! English) of RUGBYca Find Yukon rugby on Facebook by Magazine searching “Yukon Rugby Federation” at rugby.ca or “Whitehorse Touch Rugby,” PLUS

Heather Moyse

tips!

F

ormer 15s and 7s rugby star and Olympic bobsleigh gold medalist Heather Moyse has never been an athlete to hit the couch and take it easy, so it is no surprise what her next adventure has her doing.

She’s going to climb Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica, in support of the True Patriot Love initiative.

“We’re never know what we’re truly capable of until we chose to step outside our comfort zone; -40 C that’s

going to be outside my comfort zone,” said Moyse.

True Patriot Love is an initiative that brings wounded Canadian soldiers together with social and business leaders to climb mountains in an effort to raise awareness of veteran’s issues and money for related programs.

Teams climbed in the Himalayas in 2012 and in the North Pole area in 2014.

Moyse is attempting to raise $50,000 for the initiative.

SEVENS PREVIEW

PACIFIC NATIONS CUP RECAP

FALL 2015 ISSUE 8

PAN AM

PAGE 36

THANK YOU

GRAHAM BROWN

PAGE 20

PACIFIC NATIONS CUP RETURNS

PAGE 49

READY FOR RIO!

CRC 2015

CLOSING THE GAP

CANADA BEATS ALL BLACKS

CHAMPS PAGE 16

PAGE 28

RUGBY WORLD CUP FAN TOUR DIARY PAGE 35

WHAT IS

ROOKIE RUGBY? PAGE 22

DTH VAN DER MERWE SHINES AT THE RUGBY WORLD CUP

WEBB ELLIS CUP

DTH POST RWC INTERVIEW PAGE 43

SEES THE SITES IN CANADA

A LOOK AHEAD

TO 2015!

10

QUALIFIED!

PAGE 21

LOOK BACK AT

THEY HAVE DONE IT!

PAGE 36

14

PAGE 36

11

socially speaking who is sayin’ what on the web

TWITTERVERSE

How well does the Front Row know Doug Wooldridge?

Djustice Sears Duru

Andrew Tiedemann

Hubert Buydens

Djustice – The proclaimers Tiedemann – Nickleback Hubert – Old Crow Medicine Show

Djustice – Despicable Me Tiedemann – Braveheart Hubert– Dumb and Dumber

Djustice – Miley Cyrus 2014 Tiedemann – Taylor Swift Hubert – Tragically Hip

Djustice – “The Liger” and he would have invisibility Tiedemann – “The Liger” and his powers would be reading women’s minds Hubert– “The Salesman” and he could sell anything to anybody

Djustice – 1 sister and can’t remember her name Tiedemann – 1 sister and I think it’s Sarah Hubert – 1 sister and I think her name is Jennifer but it may be wrong

PAGE 36

THANK YOU

GRAHAM BROWN

GOLD RUSH!

PAGE 49

CRC 2015 READY FOR RIO!

ERVE ERWE WHAT IS

ROOKIE RUGBY? PAGE 22

CHAMPS PAGE 16

TRYTASTIC! DTH VAN DER MERWE SHINES AT THE RUGBY WORLD CUP

WEBB ELLIS CUP

PAGE 21

LOOK BACK AT

2015 RWC

PAGE 28

CLOSING THE GAP

CANADA BEATS ALL BLACKS

RUGBY WORLD CUP FAN TOUR DIARY PAGE 35 DTH POST RWC INTERVIEW PAGE 43

/RugbyCanada

LIFIED! 14 QUA

Canadian rugby like you have never seen before QUALIFIED!

PAGE 36

RUGBYca magazine delivers:

THEY HAVE DONE IT!

TO 2015!

3 issues for ONLY $12.95*

• Stunning photos • Exclusive interviews • Coaching and training tips • Great gift idea • Support to the rugby community – SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Order online: RUGBY.ca

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E Behind-the-scenes coverage TI• M

SEES THE SITES IN CANADA

12

Jen_Kish Rockstars!

PAGE 36

FALL 2015 ISSUE 8

PAN AM

M

INSTAGRA

If he was a super hero, what would his powers and name be?

Doug – “Ferocious Liger” and powers would be super-human strength

Brothers/sisters and what are their names?

Doug - 1 sister – Carlie

PACIFIC NATIONS CUP RECAP

RugbyCanada @RugbyCanada Earlier today, James Pritchard & Jebb Sinclair met the Queen at reception at Buckingham Palace?

What’s his all-time favourite movie?

Doug– Braveheart

Best concert ever attended?

Doug – AC/DC

SEVENS PREVIEW

Follow us @RUGBYCANADA

What level of schooling has Doug completed?

Doug– University – Bachelor of Social Science, U of Ottawa Djustice – University, Bachelors of something, U of Ottawa Tiedemann – He did a Bachelors in ….. can’t quite remember … maybe a BA Hubert– He went to U of Ottawa and I think a Bachelor of Commerce

Favourite band/artist?

Doug – Guns and Roses

GE 20

CIFIC ATIONS UP ETURNS

PRESENTED BY

13

14

PRESENTED BY

CANADIAN RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP

NEW FORMAT FOR 2015 AGE GRADE CRC NETS GREAT COMPETITION Showcase young talent from across the country

By Matt Tidcombe

T

his July, the Canadian Rugby Championship agegrade competition took place in Regina with an U-20 Women’s Division joining the Men’s U-19 competition for the first time. The addition of the women’s teams bolstered the event showcasing the talent of young male and female rugby athletes from across the country who elevated their game on the national stage.

The BC Bears clinched the Canadian Rugby Championships Men’s U-19 title with an 11-8 win over Ontario on the final Sunday while the Ontario Storm won the Women’s U-20 tournament.

Both Ontario and BC U-19s came into the Final with perfect 3-0 records, setting up a thrilling encounter. Phil Berna scored BC’s lone try while Wes Wong kicked two penalties for the winners while Ontario captain Trenton

BC Champs BC (in Gold) Ended up winning the men’s competition.

Cooper registered his team’s lone try with Keaton Porter kicking a penalty.

In the Women’s competition, the Ontario Storm completed a perfect 4-0 tournament by defeating BC 48-12 in the final game. Natalie Kwiecien, Petra Woods, Dominique Rumball, Elizabeth Thomson, Breanne KeoghChin, Catherine Iuliano, Kaitlyn Richard, Emily Babcock and Jenna Press all had tries for the Storm while Mckenzie Fowler and Camila Maslo scored for BC. Also on Sunday, the Wolf Pack lost 27-12 to the Atlantic Rock in the U-19 men’s division. The Rock built a 20-0 lead thanks to tries from Ty Wright and Ben LeBlanc while Cooper Coates added a penalty and a conversion. Liam O’Hallahan and Connor O’Neil replied with tries before the Wolf Pack scored late to seal the victory. The Wolf Pack finished 0-4 while the Rock went 2-2.

Men’s U-19 Results July 15 Ontario 45 Wolf Pack 3 BC 56 Voyageurs 5 July 16 Ontario 26 Rock 8 Voyageurs 28 Wolf Pack 7 July 17 Ontario 71 Voyageurs 5 BC 12 Rock 7 July 18 Voyageurs 19 Rock 29 Wolf Pack 10 BC 15 July 19 BC 11 Ontario 8 Rock 27 Wolf Pack 12 Men’s Final Standings BC 4-0 17 pts Ontario 3-1 16 pts Rock 2-2 11 pts Voyageurs 1-3 5 pts Wolf Pack 0-4 1 pt

Women’s U-20 Results July 14 BC 0 Wolf Pack 39 July 15 Ontario 38 Wolf Pack 12 July 16 Ontario 27 BC 15 July 17 BC 5 Wolf Pack 69 July 18 Ontario 22 Wolf Pack 12

Tanner Piper PSP

July 19 BC 12 Ontario 48 Women’s U-20 Standings Ontario 4-0 20 pts Wolf Pack 2-2 10 pts BC 0-4 0 pts

15

CANADIAN RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP

PRESENTED BY

MACTIER CUP GOES WEST FOR FIRST TIME IN FIVE YEARS WOLF PACK CLAIMS CHAMPIONSHIP

By Brock Smith with files from Jeff Robinson

Photos by Ron Leblanc

CRC wrap

F

or the first time in five years, the MacTier Cup won’t have the words “Ontario Blues” engraved on its base.

Ontario’s senior men’s provincial rugby team was denied an unprecedented fifth consecutive national championship on Canada Day, falling to the Prairie Wolf Pack 3325 in a thrilling Canadian Rugby Championship Final at Calgary Rugby Park.

Given the trouble the Calgary-based club has had in reaching the pinnacle of the league for the last six years, Wolf Pack head coach Graeme Moffat was understandably pleased.

“We’ve been bridesmaids so many times,” said Moffat, whose squad won Sunday’s semifinal 57-7 win over the British Columbia Bears to reach the final. “To put in a strong performance (Wednesday) and beat a very good Blues team is pretty satisfying.”

full credit goes to the Wolf Pack. They really got into our game, disrupted us when they needed to and earned their victory in front of their home fans.

Blues head coach,

Chris Silverthorn

Try time Wolf Pack’s Mozac Samson runs a try in to seal victory in the final.

Photo caption Feelin’for Blue cutline this image Jordan Wilson-Ross eludes Rock defender in 44-22 win.

WOLF PACK def BLUES 33-25 Prairie Wolf Pack

Tries: Mozac Samson 3 (26, 33, 48) Conversions: Gordon McRorie 3 (27, 34, 49) Penalties: Gordon McRorie 4 (3, 8, 53, 67)

Ontario Blues

Tries: Andrew Ferguson (15), Jamie Mackenzie (58), Dan. Moor (80) Conversions: Derek Daypuck 2 (16, 59) Penalties: Derek Daypuck 2 (29, 35)

16

Canadian Rugby Championship ResultS June 28 Blues 44 Rock 22 Wolf Pack 57 Bears 7

July 1 Rock 30 Bears 31 Wolf Pack 33 Blues 25

“It wasn’t our day,” said Blues head coach Chris Silverthorn, after the match. “We were pushing hard for our fifth straight MacTier Cup, and our guys put forward an incredible effort, but full credit goes to the Wolf Pack. They really got into our game, disrupted us when they needed to and earned their victory in front of their home fans.”

The Championship opened with the Blues beating the Rock 44-22, and the Wolf Pack downing the BC Bears 57 - 7 to set up the finals day match-ups with this year’s CRC Final boasting a wealth of Canadian international talent amongst the two finalists. More than a dozen players involved in the match had earned caps at the full Canada, Canada ‘A’, or Canada Sevens levels over the past year.

The 33-25 victory marked the Wolf Pack program’s first-ever national championship, putting an end to Ontario’s string of victories in the event.

Earlier in the day, the British Columbia Bears edged the Atlantic Rock 31-30 to claim a thirdplace finish at the CRC, matching their result from last year’s campaign.

The 2015 championship featured a truncated version of the normal competition because this year’s Rugby World Cup caused schedule pressures for selectors and players alike. As a result, a tournament took place over just one weekend allowing Canada’s top domestic players to showcase their talents and for a champion to be named.

WHAT IS ROOKIE RUGBY? Rookie Rugby is Rugby Canada’s mass participation program that is a noncontact, safe introduction to the game for boys and girls of all ages. The program is complete with a full rugby curriculum that is easy to implement and focuses on having fun and learning the basics of the game.

Basics of Rookie Rugby

NON CONTACT with Flags

10-20 Ball Size 3 or 4

Teams 5 -7 players

MINUTES Game Times

Field Size flexible on number of players

Rookie Rugby mirrors the game of rugby by incorporating the principles of being an evasion game using flag belts. Flag belts allow players to have a platform of learning the basics of the game in a fun and safe manner.

TRY

NON-CONTACT

30 PLAYERS 6 GROUPS OF 5

Rookie Rugby Curriculum The Rookie Rugby Curriculum is based on the Get Into Rugby program from World Rugby. This curriculum is centered on the principles of Try, Play, and Stay:

TRY

These games are meant for kids to try the game of rugby and learn some basic skills.

PLAY

Once players have developed a foundation of the game, they then advance to more competitive play and participating in more consistent programs.

MODULE 4A

TRY

NON-CONTACT

WARM-UP

TRY

MODULE 4A

30 PLAYERS NON-CONTA CT 6 GROUPS OF 5 30 PLAYE 6 GROUP RS S OF 5

WARM-UP

relays with passing relays wit EQUIPMENT NEEDED: h passin relaPRINCIPLE g ys wi S OF PLAY: EQUIPMENT • 3 rugby balls NEEDED: th pa • 8 cones ssing • Go forward • 3 rugby balls EQUIPMEN PRINCIPLES T NEED • Provide • 8 cones

SPACE NEEDED: • 3 channels • 20 metres x 20

• 3 rugby • 8 cones balls

SPACE NEEDED : SPACE NEED metres 20m

20m

20m

20m

20m

20m

-UP

MODULE 4A WARM-UP

OF PLAY: ED: • Create support continuity • Go forward • Provide support PRINCIPLE S OF PLAY SUGGESTED• Create TIME continuit ALLOCATIO : y N: • Go forwar d • Provid e suppo • 6 minutes SUGGES rt • Create TED TIME continALLOCA uity

• 3 channels 20m 20m 20m ED: 20m 20m 20m • 20 metres x 20 •3 metres 20m 20m 20m 20m chann els 20m HOW TO 20m • 20 metre 20m 20m 20m s x 20 metre 20m 20m 20m s 20m • Three 20m

MODUL E 4A WARM

MODULE 4A WARM-UP

MODULE 4A WARM -UP

TION:

• 6 minutes PLAY:

SUGGESTE

D TIME ALLO

CATION: 20m teams of 5 players in each 20m 20m • 6 minute channel • Two 20m teams (includingHOW one TO PLAY:s should position themselveswith the ball) on one side • Three teams of the channel and of 5 players the other team • Two on in each channel the opposite side HOW teams (including of the TO onePLAY: • Teams stand in should channel position themselve with the ball) a line • Three • The team with of the channel teams of s on one side the ball (ball startsand • Two teams 5 players at the other the opposite one end of the line) team onin side of the run each channe (includ across channel should the channel passing• Teamsslowly ing one l positio in the ball stand with the a line line along n the • thems The of • By each receiver ball) the team with elves on channe staying the ball (ball l and one side behind one endslightly starts the ball carrier, the the other at ofthe theoppos ball should ite side team on beline) run • Teams slowly channel of across passed backwards the channe passing stand the l the ballinalong a line • By each •receiver The team • Once the ball reaches COACHING POINTS: with slightlythe line the player atstaying one end the ball the the ball (ball end of the line, he/she behind carrier, starts at theshould ball line) run it the of channe passedpasses forwards to the next be slowly backward • Run forward with COACHI l spassin team across waiting g the ball the ball • By • Once on NG POINTS: the opposite side the the • Carry the ball in balleach along the receive reaches two ther staying line • That team then end of thethe ball COAC • Swing the arms• Run hands the carrier, player atslightly repeats the line, he/she forward HING exercise across the ball passes withtothe forwards passed the body it should behind ball POINTS: to the next release the ball• towards backw Carry the be team ards ball • Once • the in two hands the opposite waiting on Run receiver the ball forwar • Swing the • Support players side d with the reaches arms must • Carry • That teamend of across behind DIFFICULTY the player the ball ballto the the line, • Call for the ball releasestay then repeats the ball : he/she ball towards at the in twobody the forwards • the Swing exercise hands passes • Support • Receivers should the arms the receiver to it players run with the oppos the next team release must outacross their hands Harder: Speed up the ball carrier• and Call for the the body waiting behind the ballstay towards the •running ballto That team ite side so • on towards the give Suppo aball target for the • Receivers Easier: Slow downDIFFICU rt players pass the receive LTY: then repeats • Callshould the running r withmust for therun the exercis the ball carrier theirstay behind hands ball out towards • Receiv and e the ball Harder: Speed so give a target ers should for the pass up the running the ball DIFFI Easier: Slow carrier andrun with their hands CULT down Y: the running so give out toward a target Harde for the pass s r: Speed up Easier: Slow down the running the runnin g

STAY

After players try the game and play it a bit longer, they become players for life and stay involved.

ROOKIERUGBY.CA

17

1

KEEP ON RUCKING !

#ChampionHer

Canada’s Dairy Farmers created the Fuelling Women Champions program to shine a light on women in sports at every level. Through research initiatives, sponsorships and grassroots support, we’re committed to helping women and girls from all walks of life, all across Canada, reach their goals through sport.

As a national partner of Rugby Canada’s Women’s programs, we were proud to help showcase the Women’s Sevens team as they qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games and became the first ever women’s rugby sevens champions of the Pan Am Games. Not only did they rock the pitch all summer long, they’re now ranked second in the world. And they will always be first in our hearts!

#ChampionHer

@womenchampions 18

POSTMATCH

PRESENTED BY

All in all it was a fantastic effort. francois ratier

pass left Amanda Thornborough has her target set as Mary Jane Kirby (left) and Tyson Beukeboom look on.

WOMEN’S RUGBY SUPER SERIES ABOUT GROWTH IN 2015

By Mark JANZEN Photos by Ron Leblanc

W

orld Rugby designed the 2015 Women’s Rugby Super Series to showcase the world’s top women’s teams and to create a meaningful competition a year after the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup in France.

Bringing the USA, New Zealand and England to Alberta, was an opportunity for these teams to test new players, try new combinations and begin planning for the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup being held in Ireland.

Canada narrowly lost to England 15-14 in the final game of the competition at Ellerslie Rugby Park in Alberta when a penalty kick

by Andrea Burk sailed just wide of the uprights allowing England to seal second place. New Zealand won the tournament after beating the USA 47-14 in their final game to clinch a perfect 3-0 record.

“We enjoyed a great performance from our team today,” said Canada’s senior women’s head coach Francois Ratier. “The players stuck to the game plan and we highlighted the weaknesses of the English around the breakdown. I’m really proud of my players today. The game proved so close that it came down to one kick at the end of the game. No one can blame the kicker. All in all it was a fantastic effort.”

Super Series Results June 27 – Calgary, AB Calgary Rugby Park Game 1: USA 13- 39 England Game 2: Canada 22 New Zealand 40 July 1 – Red Deer, AB Red Deer Rugby Club Game 1: New Zealand 26-7 England Game 2: Canada 28 USA 36 July 5 – Edmonton, AB Ellerslie Rugby Park Game 1: New Zealand 47-14 USA Game 2: Canada 14 England 15

breaking through Julianne Zussman shoots the gap against England.

19

POSTMATCH

PRESENTED BY

Final tournament standings

1 14 points

2 9 points

3

the 2015 Women’s Rugby Super Series was to showcase the world’s top women’s teams.

5 points

4

ferntastic New Zealand’s Honey Hireme was a continuous scoring threat in the tournament.

3 points

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20

PRESENTED BY

POSTMATCH

DAY 1 July 11, 2015

Canada 55-0 Colombia Canada 60-0 Mexico Canada 36-0 Brazil

Day 2 July 12, 2015

Canada 45-0 Argentina Canada 34-12 USA Gold Medal Match Canada 55-7 USA golden moment The Canadian women dominated throughout the Pan Am Weekend - taking Gold with a 55-7 win over the USA.

Canada’s Women’s Roster for 2015 Pan American Games:

CANADIAN WOMEN UNSTOPPABLE AT PAN GAMES

By Brock Smith

Ashley Steacy

Photos by Paige Stewart

a satisfying end to a triumphant The Canadian Women’s Sevens team became the first-ever Pan- season for his team.

“The girls did a fantastic job all American Games Women’s Rugby weekend,” said Tait.

Champions in Toronto “The team’s great play after winning the gold allowed the coaching medal on the back staff to be able to rotate of three resounding our line-up without victories on the second losing any momentum. day of the competition.

That gave us some After opening the fresh legs so that we first day with a 45-0 could rest many of our win over Argentina, top girls, and the young Canada closed out girls really came its round-robin pool on and did a great matches by defeating job throughout the the Americans 34-12. whole tournament.

The victories paved It allowed our top the way for Canada line-up to hit the to advance to the gold Jen Kish ground fresh in medal match, where the 20-minute a rematch against Ghislaine the USA saw Canada produce its final, and that was probably Landry the difference in the end.” finest display of the tournament; a Canadian Captain Jen Kish was thorough 55-7 victory secured the Pan thrilled to be able to deliver such Am title for Canada, on home soil in a great performance on home soil, front of 20,000 lively supporters.

For Head Coach John Tait, it was saying, “To share our win with the

To share our win with the crowd, the Canadian fans who back us every single day, and boost us on the field, is an amazing feeling.

crowd, the Canadian fans who back us every single day, and boost us on the field, is an amazing feeling.

It’s a dream come true, because as an athlete, you want to play in big stadiums like this, and you want the support of the Canadian crowd, and that’s exactly what we got.”

CANADA 55-7 USA After falling behind 7-0 on the heels of a Kristen Thomas try, Canada buckled down to regroup in remarkable fashion. Magali Harvey, Karen Paquin, Ghislaine Landry, and Jen Kish all responded with first-half tries to amass a 26-7 lead at halftime.

Exiting the interval, Canada showed no signs of slowing down, and built on their first-half momentum by producing four more tries before the sound of the final whistle. Harvey, Paquin, and Landry all struck again in the frame, with Ashley Steacy adding a single tally.

The victory completed a remarkable run of form for the national side, which saw Canada score 285 points in the sixmatch tournament, while conceding only 19 points - quite the exclamation point on a memorable gold-medal performance!

Britt Benn Guelph Redcoats Napanee, ON Hannah Darling Peterborough Pagans Warsaw, ON Magali Harvey Club de Rugby Quebec Quebec City, QC Sara Kaljuvee Toronto Scottish Ajax, ON Jen Kish ‘Captain’ Edmonton Rockers RFC Edmonton, AB Ghislaine Landry Toronto Scottish Toronto, ON Kayla Moleschi Williams Lake Rustlers Williams Lake, BC Karen Paquin Club de Rugby Quebec Quebec City, QC Nadia Popov Aurora Barbarians Newmarket, ON Kelly Russell Toronto Nomads Bolton, ON Ashley Steacy Lethbridge Rugby Club Lethbridge, AB Natasha Watcham-Roy (Hull Volant) Gatineau, QC

Jen Kish sprints for a try 21

POSTMATCH

PRESENTED BY

Nathan Hirayama

DAY 1 July 11, 2015

Canada 45-0 Guyana Canada 26-14 Brazil Canada 7-21 Argentina

Day 2 July 12, 2015

red, white and gold The Canadian men cut it close - but scored the gold medal win over Argentina 22-19.

Canada 17-12 Chile Canada 26-19 USA Canada 22-19 Argentina

CANADA’S MEN EARN BACK-TO-BACK PAN AM TITLES

By Brock Smith

Photos by Paige Stewart

adversity we were in, we were either The pathway to the top of the podium may have had its hurdles, going to crumble or we were going but Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team to catapult ourselves to the top, and overcame the odds to complete we decided which way we were the host nation’s double-gold going to go. The guys reflected all the values of this team, and the culture performance on the day, winning we’re creating, but most of all they the 2015 Pan American Games gold embodied everything in the stadium medal with three inspirational, from a supporter’s come-from-behind perspective.” victories on Day Two Canadian Captain of the competition.

John Moonlight echoed After starting the those sentiments, saying, day with a sudden“We didn’t make any death, extra-time 17-12 of our games easy, win over Chile in their but we wanted to be quarterfinal, Canada inspirational, and I booked their spot in think we accomplished gold medal match by that. That final play of defeating the United the gold medal match – States of America in john that last-ditch effort by their semifinal, 26-19. moonlight everyone – was exactly Canada saved their what we needed. Our most memorable team plays with a lot of heart, performance for last, clawing back and we will never give up on any to defeat Argentina 22-19 in the final match. Matches like today’s shows on the heels of a last-second try from Harry Jones, ensuring that the that anything is possible in rugby host nation received gold medals sevens.”

Argentina opened the match’s in front of 20,000 passionate home scoring with an impressive chipsupporters.

“I think the boys really reflected and-chase try from Franco Sabato, the Canadian spirit throughout this putting the South Americans ahead 5-0 just two minutes into the game. tournament,” said Sevens Heach Coach Liam Middleton. “They Recovering well, Canada spent the majority of the first half probing were courageous and tenacious when against the wall. That type of deep into Argentina end, and were

Our team plays with a lot of heart, and we will never give up on any match.

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unlucky when the Pumas hit for their second try late in the half, with Bautista Ezcurra scoring against the pace of play. A try in the final moments of the half from Conor Trainor ensured Canada didn’t enter the break on a scoreless note.

Riding their momentum after the interval, Trainor wasted little time notching his double, plucking the loose ball up immediately following the restart and racing 45 metres to level the score at 12-12.

Argentina responded just minutes later, with Santiago Alvarez breaking a tackle to touch down under the posts, giving the South American side a 19-12 lead. A yellow card to Argentina’s Sabato midway through the second half opened a window of opportunity for Canada, and the hosts capitalized, with Phil Mack knifing through the defensive line to touch down in the corner, cutting Canada’s deficit to two points.

Once again, Canada were faced with the spectre of defeat after the sound of the hooter, but for the second match running, the host nation found an extra gear.

Throwing wave after wave of attack at Argentina’s line in a lastditch effort, a clever chip from Nathan Hirayama was collected by Harry Jones five metres from the try line, with the Vancouver man shrugging off two tacklers to bull his way over.

Jones’ late-match heroics clinched the memorable win for Canada, marking the national side’s third consecutive comeback victory en route to receiving gold medals on home soil.

Canada’s Men’s Roster for 2015 Pan American Games: Admir Cejvanovic Burnaby Lake RFC/BC Bears Vancouver, BC Justin Douglas Abbotsford RFC Abbotsford, BC Sean Duke UVIC Vikes/BC Bears Vancouver, BC Mike Fuailefau Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears Victoria, BC Lucas Hammond Toronto Nomads/Ontario Blues Toronto, ON Nathan Hirayama UVIC Vikes/BC Bears Vancouver, BC Harry Jones Capilano RFC/BC Bears North Vancouver, BC Phil Mack James Bay AA/BC Bears Victoria, BC John Moonlight ‘Captain’ James Bay AA/Ontario Blues Pickering, ON Matt Mullins Queen’s University/Ontario Blues Belleville, ON Conor Trainor UBCOB Ravens/BC Bears Vancouver, BC Sean White James Bay AA/BC Bears Victoria, BC

John Moonlight powers his way through the defence

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Rugby Canada Players: Conor Trainor, Lucas Hammond and Jake Webster

PRESENTED BY

SUMMER RECAP

Missed Chances at Pacific Nations Cup

Jim Neale

By MATT TIDCOMBE

focused run Nick Blevins scored an important go ahead try but last second heroics saw Samoa take the win in Toronto.

C

anada fell 20-6 to Japan in their opening game of the 2015 Pacific Nations Cup in San Jose, California, on July 18th.

Canada’s points came from the boot of Gordon McRorie who kicked two penalties, while Japan captain and all-time leading point scorer Ayumu Goromaru kicked five penalties while Yoshikazu Fujita had the only try of the game.

“I thought we created a lot of chances, we just weren’t able to take them and just gave away too many penalties,” head coach Kieran Crowley said.

“There were certainly some real positives about the opportunities we created. We now need to work on taking those opportunities.”

Canada committed over a dozen penalties, something captain Tyler Ardron said needs to be fixed ahead of next week’s clash with Tonga.

“Most of them were when we had ball in hand so it was very frustrating,” Ardron said. “That’s how we want to play, ball in hand, so not being able to keep it and putting phases together to do what we’ve practiced all week is frustrating.”

CANADA DEFEATED BY TONGA IN ROUND TWO OF PNC Canada fell to 0-2 at the 2015 Pacific Nations Cup after a 28-18 loss to Tonga at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, B.C., Friday evening.

Aaron Carpenter scored two tries for Canada while Sonatang Takalua also had a brace and was named player of the game.

“I thought the first 15 or so minutes we played really well,” head coach Kieran Crowley said. “After that our set piece didn’t go well and then we just turned over too many balls. There was improvement in a lot of areas but still a lot of areas to improve.”

Canada got off to a perfect start as Carpenter

put the home side up 5-0 inside three minutes after he bulldozed his way over the line from a pick-andgo. Gordon McRorie kicked the conversion and Canada, who had beaten Tonga four straight times heading into the game, were up 7-0.

Canada would open up a 15-3 lead minutes later as Liam Underwood broke through the Tongan line before offloading to Carpenter at the last second, who cruised in for the first multi-try effort of his test career.

“We’re really exciting with ball in hand,” Ardron said. “I haven’t seen another team as physical in the tackle area as us all tournament so if we keep that strength and build on a couple of things we’re not top on, we should be good.”

Morath kicked his second penalty of the night in the 52nd minute to push the lead to 20-15 but McRorie replied immediately to make it 20-18.

After another Morath penalty pushed the lead to 23-18, Tonga sealed victory when Takalua scored his second try after being set up by lock Steve Lafi, who pierced through the Canadian line.

Canada pressured the Tongan line the final 10 minutes, and despite yellow cards to Telusa Veainu and Alisona Taumololo, Canada couldn’t find a final try.

LAST SECOND DISAPPOINTMENT FOR CANADA AGAINST SAMOA Sakaria Taulafo scored a last gasp try as Samoa edged Canada 21-20 at the Pacific Nations Cup July 29th in Toronto.

Canada was in prime position to pick up their first win of the PNC but Taulafo caught a loose ball off a ricochet from a lineout and dived over to secure Samoa’s spot in Monday’s PNC final.

“I think we played our absolute hearts out,” Canada captain Tyler Ardron said. “I don’t think anyone could have done any better. Obviously the

ball didn’t bounce our way, a couple of lucky tries for them kind of let us down.

“They weren’t really breaking us and we got a lot going forward. When you go out and put it all out there like we did and play well, you just have to accept the result. It’s disappointing but we did play well.”

Canada had gone 20-16 ahead in the 76th minute when Phil Mackenzie scored his fifth test try. A Nathan Hirayama kick bounced near the touchline where Conor Trainor saved the loose ball with a flashy behind the back pass that found Mackenzie who pierced through the Samoan line and touched down before James Pritchard slotted home the conversion.

However, Samoa earned two quick penalties and found themselves at the Canadian five meter line where Taulafo collected the loose ball and dived over in the 81st minute for his first test try in 35 games.

“A lot of positives but I’m absolutely gutted,” Canada head coach Kieran Crowley said. “The boys dug deep, they really put it all in there but to lose in it in the final moments is pretty disappointing.”

USA PULL OFF DRAMATIC WIN WITH FINAL SECOND DROP-GOAL AJ MacGinty hit a drop goal in the 80th minute as the USA edged Canada 15-13 at the Pacific Nations Cup on August 4th in Burnaby, British Columbia.

It was part of a triple header day of action to wrap the 2015 PNC, with Fiji claiming the title by downing Samoa 39-29. Tonga took the bronze with a 31-20 win over Japan.

Canada had gone ahead in the 71st minute as Nick Blevins pierced through the USA backline and ran over half the field for his second try in as many matches. Liam Underwood converted giving Canada a 13-12 lead.

However, USA got within the 22 meter line, slowly inching towards the line before setting up MacGinty who connected to give the USA a fifth place finish at the Pacific Nations Cup. “It’s another disappointing loss for us,” Canada captain Aaron Carpenter said. “We gave a full performance but I think we stopped playing a little bit at the end there. We let them come at us and we played scared at the end because we’ve lost a couple of tight games in the last couple of outings … test matches evolve around small little things.

“We used this tournament to build and there’s a lot of pieces in the right place. There’s a lot of competition for places and no ones spot is guaranteed.”

Canada lost Wednesday night to Samoa on a last minute try in Toronto and suffered a similar fate on Monday.

“We just weren’t good enough,” Canada head coach Kieran Crowley said. “They had three yellow cards and we couldn’t capitalize. It’s pretty disappointing.”

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PRESENTED BY

stay away Aaron Carpenter found the gainline plenty and scored a try but it was not enough in a loss to the USA.

AMERICANS TAKE CAN AM TROPHY IN WORLD CUP WARM-UP CLASH

By MATT TIDCOMBE In a rematch of their Pacific Nations Cup clash earlier in August, the USA again emerged victorious as they beat Canada 41-23 in Ottawa Saturday.

Canada got tries from the returning Taylor Paris as well Nick Blevins and Aaron Carpenter while the USA ran in five tries.

“We let ourselves down with the little details,” Canada captain Carpenter said. “We put a lot of pressure on them inside their 22 but we couldn’t get the job done today and left too many points out there.

“Unfortunately they took advantage of their opportunities inside our 22 and got points and that was the difference in the end.”

“Breakdown was an issue for us,” Canada’s head coach Kieran Crowley said. “We allowed their tackler to get up and compete. We weren’t strong enough over the ball and they bullied us in that area which is disappointing.”

Canada came flying out of the blocks in the second half — USA winger Blaine Scully was sent to the bin for 10 minutes in the 44th minute for a high tackle on Paris and four minutes later Paris had his sixth international try after taking a pass from Dala and skipping pass a tackle for the try.

MacGinty kicked another penalty to push the USA lead to 20-11 but again Canada came storming back in the AAron 58th minute as Blevins powered through a tackle to score CarpenTer his third try in as many games.

“In the second half we got back into it, kept the ball, put some phases together but the sin bin hurt us again,” Crowley said. “We’re giving up too many penalties, too much stupidity around that area and too many turnovers. It just wasn’t good enough.”

Canada had momentum on their side and were moving towards the USA try line before Mack was sin binned and the USA added three late tries although Carpenter got his third try of the summer in the 78th minute off a driving maul.

“We’re hurting a little bit right now,” Carpenter said. “Every loss we take on the chin. We know we have to do better. We have to look inside at ourselves and ask what we can do more. It’s just not good enough right now.”

We have to look inside at ourselves and ask what we can do more.

Scoring Canada

Tries: Taylor Paris, Nick Blevins, Aaron Carpenter Conversions: Nathan Hirayama Penalties: Gordon McRorie Drop goals: Nathan Hirayama

USA

Tries: Greg Peterson, Andrew Durutalo, Andrew Suniula, Mike Petri, Cam Dolan Conversions: AJ MacGinty (3) Penalties: AJ MacGinty (4)

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Jim Neale

Jim Neale

SUMMER RECAP

thorpedo Canada’s flanker Richard Thorpe found space against Glasgow.

CANADA RETURN TO WINNING WAYS WITH 19-12 RESULT OVER GLASGOW WARRIORS

By MATT TIDCOMBE Canada won its final Rugby World Cup warm-up game on Canadian soil after beating the Glasgow Warriors 19-12 in Halifax on September 22nd in the Battle for New Scotland.

Canada got tries from the returning Jamie Cudmore, who captained the side, as well as Matt Evans and former Warriors player DTH van der Merwe.

Nathan Hirayama kicked two conversions while Glenn Bryce and Junior Bulumakau scored tries for Glasgow.

“I thought the boys played really well,” Canada’s head coach Kieran Crowley said. “Defensively they were outstanding, we got a couple of opportunities which we took, probably left a couple of scores out there too, but I’m very pleased.

“They certainly dug in and it was nice to get over the line for a change.”

Jamie Cudmore responded to an early Glasgow try with a physical effort of his own from in close to put his team into a 7-5 lead.

Canada scored its second try of the game just before the half with a well executed pass to Ciaran Hearn finally unravelling the Glaswegian defense.

Nanyak Dala broke through the Warriors defensive kieran line before offloading to Phil Mack who would then find crowley a supporting Hearn who connected with Matt Evans.

The Cornish Pirate crossed with two players hanging off him - and with the Nathan Hiarayama conversion it was 14-5 to Canada.

The Warriors did get their second try of the day in the 71st minute.

Canadian lock Evan Olmstead had been sent to the sin bin three minutes earlier and the Warriors took advantage of the extra man as they spread the ball wide for Junior Bulumakau to touch down. Scott Wight’s conversion cut the Canadian lead to 14-12 with nine minutes to play.

However, Canada sealed its first win of the summer in the 77th minute when van der Merwe, who spent the past six seasons with the Warriors and helped them to Guinness Pro 12 glory last season, scored in the far corner after patient buildup play by Canada.

I thought the boys played really well.

Scoring Canada

Tries: Jamie Cudmore, Matt Evans, DTH van der Merwe Conversions: Nathan Hirayama (2)

Glasgow Warriors

Tries: Glenn Bryce, Junior Bulumakau Conversion: Scott Wright

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2015 world cup RECAP

PRESENTED BY

IRISH EYES SMILE AGAINST CANADA

By Matt Tidcombe Notes from Doug Crosse Photos By Lorne Collicutt

T

aking on Ireland to open the 2015 Rugby World Cup was always a mixed blessing for Canada. On the upside, Canada would be fielding its very best team with no tight turnaround pressures leaving nothing but concentration ahead of what the Irish would bring. All that said, same story for the Irish!

DTH van der Merwe scored Canada’s lone try but Ireland ran in seven tries en route to a 50-7 win in its World Cup opener.

Jonathan Sexton scored 14 points and Ireland had seven different try scorers. Nathan Hirayama added the conversion after van der Merwe’s second half try.

The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, was sold out for the September 19th contest with Canadian fans in attendance from all over the world.

“I was pleased with some aspects of the game,” Canadian head coach Kieran Crowley said. “Our set piece went reasonably well and we created some chances, some of which we didn’t take so that is an area we need to look at.”

Canada had the chance to take an early lead as scrumhalf Gordon McRorie attempted a long range penalty, but his kick fell a few meters short. However, Sexton netted the first points of the game in the 14th minute with a close range penalty in front of the posts.

In what turned out to be a very costly error, Clermont pro Jamie Cudmore tried to disguise some ball disruption from within the confines of a ruck and he paid the price earning a yellow card allowing Ireland to score tries from Sean O’Brien, Iain Henderson and Sexton while the Squamish native could only look on from his sideline seat.

“I was trying to prevent the try but I got dinged for it and had to pay the price,” Cudmore said. “That’s on me and it’s a mistake I made.”

“They made us pay in that area with a man down and we weren’t able to do the same when they were a man down,” Crowley said. Ireland captain Paul O’Connell would be sin binned two minutes into the second half but Canada couldn’t capitalize.

Dave Kearney collected the bonus point for Ireland in the 30th minute when he scored in the corner after a burst of speed to get past the Canadian line.

“I don’t think we started like we wanted to,” O’Connell said. “I thought Canada played some great rugby in the early parts of the game.”

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def

50-7 Scoring IIreland

Tries: Sean O’Brien, Iain Henderson, Jonathan Sexton, Dave Kearney, Sean Cronin, Rob Kearney, Jared Payne Conversions: Jonathan Sexton (3) Ian Madigan (3) Penalties: Jonathan Sexton Yellow cards: Paul O’Connell

Canada

Tries: DTH van der Merwe Conversions: Nathan Hirayama Yellow cards: Jamie Cudmore

high hopes Brett Beukeboom made it to the top floor in his lineouts against Ireland.

2015 world cup recap

ED IN OPENER a sold out millennium stadium in cardiff, wales with world cup excitment

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2015 world cup RECAP

Colin Watson

Canada thought they had their first try of the Rugby World Cup in the 40th minute when van der Merwe touched down in the corner after a number of phases from the forward pack. However, it was adjudged that Hirayama’s outlet pass was forward denying van der Merwe.

However, he wouldn’t be denied

the move Matt Evans looked dangerous in attack against the Irish.

again. After a scoreless opening 27 minutes of the second half, Sean Cronin got a fifth Irish try but a minute later, van der Merwe had his 17th test try after he intercepted a kick and ran half of the field to score the fourth World Cup try of his career.

“We put some good rugby together but we didn’t have the finishing in the

red zone,” Cudmore said. “If we had a few things go our way I think we would have been in the game a bit more.”

Ireland added two tries inside the final ten minutes as Rob Kearney and Jared Payne scored to push Ireland to the half-century mark.

Despite facing the sixth-ranked team in the world for long periods of time Canada didn’t look out of place against their foes. It took Ireland 27 minutes to break the Canadian defence in the second half and for periods of play, Canada outplayed the Irish, particularly inside the opening 15 minutes of the first-half and the opening 20 minutes of the second-half. Along with van der Merwe’s try that was disallowed on half time, Jebb Sinclair also had a try pulled back after it was adjudged he was slightly offside as Hirayama put his grubber kick behind the Ireland line highlighting that Canada had a forward momentum despite a lopsided final score line.

Ireland, who won this year’s RBS Six Nations, are now 6-0-1 against Canada all-time. Saturday’s meeting was just the second time the two sides had met at a World Cup – the other was in 1987.

It took Ireland 27 minutes to break the Canadian defence in the second half and for periods of play, Canada outplayed the Irish.

breakout DTH van der Merwe scored the only try for Canada.

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PRESENTED BY

2015 world cup recap

def

23-18 Scoring ITALY

Tries: Rizzo, Garcia Conversions: Allan 2 Penalties: Allan 3

Canada

Colin Watson

Tries: DTH van der Merwe Conversions: Nathan Hirayama Penalties: Hirayama 2

a haunting DECISION

Late penalty decision may haunt Canada in close match with Italy

By Adam Kyriacou - WITH NOTES FROM DOUG CROSSE

T

his match will be a talisman for the efforts put forward by the 2015 edition of the Canadian team at the Rugby World Cup. In it for much of the match and pushing the Tier 1 Italians to the brink there was very little between the two squads, but some big game experience and possibly a bit more depth saw the Azzurri through in a tight 23-18 contest at Elland Road in Leeds.

Still licking their collective wounds following a 50-7 work out from Ireland the previous week, Canada seemed unaffected by that performance and played like a Tier 1 nation themselves through an hour of the game.

“We’re pretty disappointed to be honest,” Canada head coach Kieran Crowley said. “I thought our guys gave it everything they could.

They played with some real emotion, some real energy but in the end it wasn’t quite good enough.”

Italy’s try-scorers were Michele Rizzo and Gonzalo Garcia but the boot of Tommaso Allan secured them victory. They were mighty relieved with it.

On top for large periods and despite going in at the break down 13-10, Canada were very much in an end-to-end pool game played in good spirit.

“It’s pretty emotional after a game like that,” captain Tyler Ardron said. “We need the emotion.

I don’t think anyone can play at this level without the emotion for 80 minutes. We’re going to have to use this to move forward.”

Boosted by the return of Ardron and with Nathan Hirayama once again directing matters with class at number ten, Canada took the lead on 13 minutes when Italy came offside.

Vancouver man Hirayama did the rest from the kicking tee as Kieran Crowley’s side went ahead.

That penalty was swiftly followed by an

final push Phil Mack impressed against Italy in game that nearly went Canada’s way.

electric try from the Canadians and in-form left wing DTH van der Merwe, whose breakout down the touchline led to an interchange with outside centre Ciaran Hearn. The former Glasgow and now Scarlets finisher hurdled the last man en route to the try-line and with Hirayama’s conversion, suddenly Canada were 10-0 to the good and looking supremely confident in front of vocal fans wearing red.

“It was maybe one of the most special ones, doing it here on the world stage,” van der Merwe said. “I listen to the World in Union song before each game and it brings a tear to my eye.”

Unfortunately the Italians would respond and quickly. After a burst through the middle it was loosehead prop Rizzo who finished off the try as the Azzurri got back to within three. At this point Canada had lost inside centre Connor Braid to an injury, being replaced by Conor Trainor.

The game was very much in the balance as Canada were combative in defence and also in

33

2015 world cup recap

the set-piece, with a loud cheer going up when the pack won a scrum penalty against an all English Premiership front-row of Italy. It was yet another sign that Canada were confident of victory.

Unfortunately side entry from Canada resulted in fly-half Allan slotting a penalty goal just before the half-time break as Italy went in ahead.

Still the Canadians played with real confidence and retook the lead on 45 minutes when full-back Evans split the Italian defence to make it a 15-13 buffer. The 33,120 supporters in Elland Road at this point were craving an upset win and credit to Canada who failed to show any nerves.

Playing against the likes of former Leicester stalwart Martin Castrogiovanni and experienced internationals such as Mauro Bergamasco coming off the bench, Canada were sticking to their task and might have gone further in front but for wing Phil Mackenzie having a try disallowed for an earlier forward pass. Had that score been awarded, it would have taken something special for the Italians to recover being down 20-13.

As it was though the Azzurri were within touching distance and scored on 58 minutes through centre Garcia, with Allan adding the two points for 20-15 .

Still Canada kept fighting though as replacement scrum-half Phil Mack tried his best to unlock the defence in a sustained period of pressure in Italy’s 22. Eventually Hirayama and Canada settled for three points off the tee and so began a final 8 minutes with the result up for grabs.

we looked at the clock and saw there was about 10 minutes to go so we thought we would take the three there and then you’re still within a penalty with 10 minutes to go. We decided to go for the posts and we certainly believe that was the right call at the time.

mascot Captain Green, the Canadian mascot had a front row seat for the game.

kieran crowley

“We were tempted to run it [instead of kick the penalty],” Crowley said. “But we looked at the clock and saw there was about 10 minutes to go so we thought we would take the three there and then you’re still within a penalty with 10 minutes to go.

We decided to go for the posts and we certainly believe that was the right call at the time.”

Try as they might Canada could not find the match-winning score and it was Italy who made sure of the win with an Allan penalty sealing victory.

“We put in a hell of an effort and the boys are sore,” van der Merwe said. “We came close, the game was there for the taking but we made some key decisions that resulted in us not winning, making poor passes and not taking extra rucks.”

Rugby Canada would like to Congratulate the following high schools

Shawnigan Lake School 1st XV

BCSSRU PROVINCIAL AAA CHAMPIONS Back Row (L - R): S Forbes, A Rolston, P O’Sullivan, A Santos, P Norris, L Ncansia, M Beukeboom, C McMaster, M Coldwells, J O’Neill, M Findlay, C O’Sullivan,J Perry, W Huber Front Row (L - R): N Mouret, J Duntoye, N Chan, O Martin, C Cabanna, D Sholtz, A Barron, C Milne, G Barton, S Gray, A Arcilla, S Hayhurst, H Perry, J Lau, F Msubo, NTorrie

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St. Michaels University School 1st XV

SALTFLEET DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL

Back Row (L - R): Ian Hyde-Lay, Eliot Anderson, Myles Duncan, Dimitri Boroto, Victor Rosenberg, Henri Gotzel, Dante Morandin, Jasper Bosley, Jake Wilmott, Koby Grewal, Aidan Cole, Sam Platt, Manolo Carzo, Josh Graffi, Pablo Fernandez, Noah Pryce-Baff, Angus Catto, Michael Cernucan, Mac Valentine, Liam Catto, Clayton Daum Front Row (L - R): Lucas de Vries, Graeme Hyde-Lay (c), Matty McColl, Diego Olivares, Max Pollen, Mitchell Newman, Owen Sudul, Josh Kahn, Jonas Robinson, John Cook, Marcelo Olsen, Carson Smith, Nick Loughton, Warren Marriott Front: Aidan McCleary

Back Row (L - R): Mr. Groleau, Mr. Sopkow, Alec Sebben, Ian Barnes-robinson, Mitchell Parish, Aaron Burrows, Ronin Taylor, Cooper Richardson, Sean Cantwell, Liam Pendakis, Aaron Ferguson, Tyler Aitken, Joe Kirchhoefel, Tristin Lockhart, Jarod Bishop-Dove, Cole Chaisson, Mr. Windsor, Mr. Stafford Middle Row (L - R): Stephen Lewis, Lawrence Cox, Brendan Long, Ty McCullough, Branko Popovich, Christian Boyd-Galego, Promil Mann, Jonathon Mariutti, Noel Paz, Mike Zazzarini, Adam van Berkel, Riley Kunzli, Milosh Djukic, Mr. Cadogan Front Row (L - R): Mr. Pendakis, Clayton Pendakis (c), Mitchell Richardson (c), Joshua Celebre

BCSSRU PROVINCIAL AA CHAMPIONS

OFSAA AAA/AAAA CHAMPIONS

PRESENTED BY

spotlight

A RUGBY WORLD CUP TO REMEMBER Freelance journalist Juliet Sullivan was one of thousands of Canadians that made the trek to England for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. However she might be one of the few who sold their house and brought the whole family for an adventure of a lifetime.

SEPT 18 2015 (part 1) There is an air of pure excitement in the streets of London as I join the swarming, buzzing crowds of people who are happily making their way towards Twickenham, the home of rugby; home of the World Cup. The stadium looms large in the distance, dominating the skyline ahead, dwarfing the residential streets that surround it, and I feel an emotional wave of gratification. I sold my house to get here. Packed up my life, dog, cat and the kids, and travelled across the seas, along with husband Lee, daughter Kerri and son Liam. It’s a long story; not as simple as it sounds. I am an almost 50 mother of two, writer and realtor. I am originally British but have lived in Canada for 12 years. Rugby is a part of my family’s life. 17-year-old son Liam has just represented BC, who subsequently won the Western Canadian Championships. Husband Lee is a long-time player and coach. Rugby dominates their world, and therefore mine.

As a part time journalist, an opportunity presents itself to cover the tournament, and therefore, at this moment on the 18th of September 2015, in my hand I hold a coveted Press ticket to the Opening Ceremony and the England v Fiji game. Millions of people are watching the same event throughout the world, but I am one of the lucky 82,000 who will take a seat in Twickenham Stadium. I have left Lee in the pub, confident that he is extremely jealous (if quietly) of my ticket. Son Liam is not so quiet, and demands to accompany me to the stadium.

SEPT 18 2015 (part 2) There is always the possibility of picking up a spare ticket on the way, he thinks. I am not so sure; I have heard horror stories about tickets already; many have allegedly been mis-sold to poor people who have paid excessive amounts over face value and are being refused entry at the ground due to duplication or forgery. I don’t intend for Liam to be one of those people.

But when we encounter a trustworthy-looking young man standing on a street corner, waving two tickets in the air, and claiming he has ‘extras’, curiosity gets the better of me and I gingerly ask him how much he wants. I am shocked by his response: he is looking for 150 pounds (around $300) - less than face value. I haggle a bit, ask for reassurances involving his first born son, and pay him the money. I know it’s a gamble - a gamble based possibly on naive over-excitement - but sometimes you have to trust your instincts. I am right. The ticket is good. We are in.

From my prized seat in the Press box, I survey the scene before me. The field has been decorated to look like a giant rugby ball has crashed into it. It is impressive and creatively original, though I do wonder how it will come across on a TV screen.

We are instructed to sing along to couple of crowd-pleasers: Sweet Caroline and Jerusalem, both of which I love, but neither of which mean much to the rest of the world – which is why I am guessing they are not broadcast. Then comes the televised part of the ceremony; a heart-warming mixture of fireworks, special effects, history and passion.

Top Picture: Juliet with her precious press pass. bottom Picture: The opening ceremonies were a sight to behold.

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spotlight A RUGBY WORLD CUP TO REMEMBER SEPT 18 2015 (part 3) I learn later that the ceremony receives mixed reviews from spectators, but I love it. I love that it reminds the world that England is the birthplace of rugby, and I love that it reminds us all why we are here.

And why we are all here is for the love of the game. England v Fiji is not the best match I have ever seen, but that seems largely irrelevant, as this night is all about passion and heart, and it’s all around, consuming each and every one of us who are lucky enough to be here. As the teams battle on the field, the roar of Twickenham rumbles low and loud, and with a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat, I soak it all in, grateful to be a part of this momentous night. Of course, England win – if not convincingly, but they do win – and that, my friends, is what we call the icing on the cake.

If the opening game is not the best match I have ever seen, the next day I see exactly that. Japan v South Africa. I am in Brighton, my home town. I have tickets to this game based on that alone. I go to the stadium – Brighton and Hove Amex Community Stadium – with no expectations or particular interest. It’s nice to be impartial – it means I can sit back and relax a little. The stadium is small (capacity is just over 27,000) and intimate, and my seat is so close to the field that I can see the expressions on the faces of the players.

As I sit down, I contemplate the journey back to Brighton (the ground is on the outskirts of the city). It will be busy.

There is essentially one road back into town, and it will be packed solid for hours after the game. I need to avoid the traffic.

I decide that I will probably leave early to avoid the rush.

SEPT 19 2015 (part 4) Very soon, though, I have forgotten about traffic. I have forgotten about anything other than this game.

It is, simply, the sort of game that will be talked about for years to come. It is fast, end-to-end, passionate and completely unexpected. More than once, I look down at my phone to write a tweet, and by the time I look up again, the play has moved the entire length of the field.

From the start, the crowd are behind Japan, the underdog, obviously. As the game goes on, the crowd grows more and more excited and they roar their appreciation of what they are witnessing. At the end, I cry. I don’t know why. I think it is just the pure, unadulterated passion that permeates the stadium. And maybe it is because of the sheer, emotion-filled reaction of the Japanese fans around me. It is the very best of rugby; the very best of sport; and the very best of life.

My next match – until I will again watch England play – is the USA v Samoa game, again being played in Brighton. I am expecting the atmosphere to be subdued. This is, after all, Sunday morning, and we are a long way from both of these countries. I also expect there to be a general feeling that what we saw yesterday (at the Japan game) cannot be repeated today; a kind of disappointment in the game before it even kicks off. But I am wrong.

SEPT 20 2015 (part 5) The crowd is loud, excited and vocal. I feel strangely emotional as the national anthems are sung. I am again impartial, but not really. I feel an allegiance to the U.S.A though I am not sure why. I do love Disneyland; and I did have a great weekend in New York once. Maybe that’s why.

The game is not a thrilling one, but by now I am just enjoying being here, soaking it all in, feeling a part of something big, something epic. That is the seduction of the World Cup. For now, I can forget that I no longer own a house; that I am a transient; unsure of where my future lies, and I can forget that the world is a mess. I can simply

Picture: Emotional Japanese fans as they watched a historical upset over South Africa.

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spotlight A RUGBY WORLD CUP TO REMEMBER

enjoy the sense of unity of this competition, and I can feel, if temporarily, that this earth is actually not such a bad place.

The Canada v France game, for me, is the fun part of the tournament. Lee, Liam and I meet our Canadian friends in a pub in Milton Keynes as we prepare for what promises to be an entertaining evening of hard-fought rugby.

Our Canadian friends are a touring side – ‘West Coast Old Growth’ - a mixture of shall-we-say ‘older’ players from ten different clubs in BC and the States. They are here for the pool stages, and have tickets to all the Canada games, and they are also here to play three of their own games, one of which I am lucky enough to watch, in Reigate, Surrey; a game I like to dub the ‘real World Cup’. You haven’t really experienced rugby until you have watched 15 ‘older’ men lumber around a field, chasing a rugby ball with the gusto and determination of their youth.

Canada produce a strong, convincing game, and we are lucky enough to witness one of the best tries of the tournament so far – by DTH Van Der Merwe - but France is just too strong, and the result reflects that. It doesn’t really matter, though – the crowd is happy. Canada’s determined, bold performance makes us satisfied and proud.

OCT 1 2015 (part 6) Mid way through the second half, another determined and bold performance gives the crowd some added entertainment as two Canadian male streakers appear on the field, and for a few minutes it looks like one of them is actually joining the play. The fans roar their approval as the streakers dart between players, and finally disappear into the crowd. This, strangely, makes me proud to be Canadian.

There is no real feeling of disappointment when we leave Milton Keynes, just a feeling that Canada did all they could. It is so much easier when the expectations are less.

And Oct 3, the England v Australia game.

Tonight, Twickenham is on fire. I have never experienced an atmosphere like it. It is electric.

The game feels like a final. It is a final, of course; England lose. The sea of yellow shirts erupts into wild celebration, and the ocean of white shirts falls into a shocked silence. England is the first host nation ever to go out of the World Cup in the pool stages. This, unsurprisingly, makes me slightly embarrassed to be English.

In the days that follow, there is a national Press fallout of epic proportions – accusations, discussions, and recriminations. And we are not even at the quarter final stages yet. Who doesn’t love the drama of a World Cup?

For me, there is a feeling of deep disappointment and anti-climax; and two questions: with England and Canada both facing the end of the road, who do I cheer for now? And someone please tell me: why did I sell my house?

friends Our Canadian

Top Picture: Canadian fans were never far off regardless of who was playing. Bottom Picture: Jeff Hassler’s parents and a friend - middle - were on hand and showing patriotic flair.

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2015 world cup recap

def

41-18 Scoring FRANCE

Tries: Fofana, Guirado, Slimani, Pape, Grosso Conversions: Michalak 4, Parra Penalties: Michalak 2

Canada

Paige Stewart

Tries: Van der Merwe, Carpenter Conversions: Hirayama Penalties: Hirayama 2

Les Bleus Bite Back Canada push France before les bleus bite back in late stages

just in time Aaron Carpenter offloads the ball as he is tackled by Damien Chouly.

By Adam Kyriacou - WITH NOTES FROM DOUG CROSSE

C

anada were once again a real thorn in the side of their Tier One opponent but could not cause a shock against France as they lost 41-18 on Thursday.

It was another spirited performance from Kieran Crowley’s charges who on the hour mark were only 24-18 behind and looking capable of claiming a major RWC scalp.

But unfortunately the French would turn the screw late on with two tries that gave the scoreline an unrealistic look, with Canada having pushed them hard all match.

To the contest and it was a thrill-a-minute opening 40 minutes as Canada wowed the supporters with their confident brand of rugby creating two decent crossings.

DTH van der Merwe was again the first crosser for his country, making it three in three matches for him at this Rugby World Cup, as he finished with calmness.

That try came after France had started with real class as Frédéric Michalak cut through the defence before setting up centre Wesley Fofana to make it 7-0.

Michalak made it 10-0 soon after before France were over again through hooker Guilhem Guirado

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at the tail of a driving maul. Suddenly it was a 17-point margin.

But up stepped Ciaran Hearn as he caught Canada’s restart to allow recycled ball to eventually find wing Van der Merwe, with Nathan Hirayama’s kick making it 17-7.

The Canadians were rallying and their second try arrived three minutes later when hooker Aaron Carpenter went over. With six minutes left in the half it was 17-12.

Tyler Ardron, Canada’s captain, said “We play an exciting brand of rugby and when we can get over the advantage line and start going forward I don’t think there’s any team that would be comfortable with us. That’s what we did and we were able to play our game.”

Unfortunately a late try in the first-half from tighthead prop Rabah Slimani extended France’s cushion to 24-12 heading into the break but there was much to savour.

Canada came out for the second period showing real spirit and were rewarded for their efforts with two Hirayama penalty goals that made it 24-18 on 55 minutes.

However Michalak would respond on the hour mark before the French demonstrated their power with a score from veteran Pascal Pape giving them the try bonus-point.

Debut wing Remy Grosso would squeeze over in the left-hand corner for France’s fifth try late on

We play an exciting brand of rugby and when we can GET over the advantage line and start going forward I don’t think there’s any team that would be comfortable with us.

That’s what we did and we were able to play our game.

Tyler Ardron

but, like Italy less than a week ago, Philippe SaintAndre’s outfit had been given a massive working over by the impressive Canadians who once again showed they are a force to be reckoned with at this Rugby World Cup and beyond.

Despite the loss Canadian team coach Kieran Crowley was glowing in his praise for the team.

“I’m really proud of the performance of the guys,” Crowley said. “They gave it everything and I couldn’t ask for anymore. We got within six points of France but then made a couple of basic mistakes and we gave Richard Thorpe away a couple of penalties and we were under the gun again so you can’t afford to do that and so we keep learning from it.”

2015 world cup recap

PRESENTED BY

We were very close, We’re losing in the last few minutes, we will learn and we’ve shown the world we can compete with the top nations.

def

17-15

JEFF HASSLER

Tries: Mihai Macovei (2) Conversions: Florin Vlaicu Penalties: Florin Vlaicu

Canada

Tries: DTH van der Merwe, Jeff Hassler Conversions: Nathan Hirayama Penalties: Gordon McRorie

Paige Stewart

out of my way Ciaran Hearn had Romania working hard in defense throughout the match.

LATE KICK THE DIFFERENCE Romania edges Canada in final RWC match

By Adam KyriacouE A 78th minute penalty by Florin Vlaicu gave Romania a 17-15 victory over Canada in their final 2015 Rugby World Cup match in Leicester.

It is the first time Canada has not at least tied a match in five World Cup tournaments and will surely rate as a disappointment for Coach Kieran Crowley and his charges.

“We have to stop learning,” Crowley said. “We can’t keep learning all the time. We had that game there and we lost it.”

Canada had built a 15-0 lead thanks to tries from DTH van der Merwe and Jeff Hassler but Romania scored 10 points in the final five minutes to pull off the victory.

“It’s truly disappointing every time we lose,” Canada captain Jamie Cudmore said. “I’d personally like to apologize to everyone. It just wasn’t good enough.”

With eight minutes left, a Romania try was upheld but referee Wayne Barnes came back for an earlier infraction that saw him send Jebb Sinclair to the sin bin. Romanian captain Mihai Macovei would touch down two minutes later for his second try of the game after scoring earlier in the 53rd minute. Vlaicu, Romania’s all-time points leader, would then step up in the 78th minute to slot home the game-winner. It’s the fourth straight time Romania has beaten Canada.

“We played all right in first half but didn’t get enough points,” Canada head coach Kieran Crowley said. “In the second half, their scrum and drive got going and we were pretty naive in our decision making which is pretty disappointing.”

With an 8-0 lead at half time, Canada got off to a flying start in the second half as Jeff Hassler, who had missed the last two games due to injury, scored his fourth test try after bulldozing through the Romanian line. He was named man of the match.

After Macovei’s first try, Canada had a chance

to get three points back but Nathan Hirayama’s penalty missed. In total, Canada left 11 points on the board through missed kicks.

McRorie thought he had his first career test try less than five minutes in to the game as he snuck down the sideline after picking up the ball from the ruck but Barnes called it back for an infraction on Nick Blevins at the breakdown.

Scrum-half Gordon McRorie was adding pressure a few minutes later but his penalty missed left but it took just two minutes more for him to give Canada an early 3-0 lead, a deserved reward for a dominant opening 15 minutes.

Romania had a chance to tie the game but Vlaicu’s effort from the halfway line came up short and two minutes later Catalin Fercu was sent to the sin bin for taking Blevins out in the air. Canada couldn’t generate much with the man advantage however — McRorie missing a second penalty the best they could muster.

Canada’s attacking prowess was awarded in the 34th minute when van der Merwe went over for his fourth try in four World Cup games after Canada used the overlap out wide giving the Scarlets man his 20th test try while becoming the first man playing for a Tier 2 nation to score four tries in four successive Rugby World Cup matches.

He also becomes only the second player to score in all four pool games at a World Cup — Shane Williams of Wales in 2007 is the other.

“We’re progressing,” Cudmore said. “We’ve shown we can play with the big boys. We need more games like that as that’s the only way we can progress. We played attractive rugby. We just need more games against top competition.”

Jake Ilnicki made his Rugby World Cup debut as a replacement Tuesday while James Pritchard replaced Harry Jones to take part in his fourth Rugby World Cup. “There’s always something to build on,” Crowley said. “The bottom line is we didn’t win today and we should have.”

carrying a load John Moonlight is corralled by a pair of Romanian forwards.

Paige Stewart

Scoring ROMANIA

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DTH van der Merwe THE SWERVE FROM THE MERWE GOT HIM FOUR WORLD CUP TRIES By doug crosse Photos By COLIN WATSON

spotlight the field and discuss things so that those mistakes don’t happen again.

I think that is something that we as players and management must accept, that there needs to be more accountability and the accountability needs to happen when we are playing. We are grown men and we should be able to speak to each other: “Listen, this is why we were short-numbered because we didn’t have a fold, or this is a missed tackle because someone misread the defence, and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” type of thing.

RUGBYca: From a coaching perspective, do you think the team was in a pretty good place for this World Cup and everyone was on the same page?

DTH: I think we had everything sorted. We played good rugby and every game we were getting better with our structures. We were up 15-0 against Romania and then we started giving away penalties.

Guys just started making decisions on their own and we would end up in mauls that would turn into scrums and they would overpower us and score.

Our whole game plan was to stay away from mauls and scrums against this team. We went in with all the ammo, all the guns and had everything ready and it was purely down to the players, and nothing the coaches did, could change what we did on the field that day. We scored 15 points unanswered and then all of a sudden we let them back into the game.

(The Coaches) were sitting in the stands, not us.

media savvy DTH van der Merwe was in the media spotlight every game for his performances.

RUGBYca: Let’s deal with the elephant in the room - an 0-4 World Cup Campaign. What was the reaction from the team when it was all done?

DTH: I don’t think there was anyone more disappointed than the players. We played such good rugby. Now looking back at it, at the time you don’t see that we were playing some really good rugby. But I think the thing of it is that we played 40 minutes of really good rugby or 60 minutes of excellent rugby and not 80 minutes. What could have been one of our best World Cups, or like the 1991 World Cup making the quarter-finals, turned out to be the worst World Cup Rugby Canada has played at. It’s a tough pill to swallow. We will try and take our positives out of it and maybe we’ll get another shot at things, playing in a new tournament next year, but the World Cup is over for us now.

RUGBYca: The results are counter-intuitive as through the pool rounds yourself and Ciaran Hearn were top performers offensively, yet the wins did not come.

DTH: Like you said, I had the metres and carries and stuff like that (along with four tries - editor’s note). Hearn, I think was top 5 in carries for the whole World Cup, and number one or two over the gain line. He had just an unbelievable World Cup. I think the thing that killed us goes back to playing 40 or 60 minutes in games and then what happens is

there is a momentum shift. We give away a stupid penalty backed up with another stupid penalty, or we don’t find touch when we should have or we are ill-disciplined with our play, and those things cost us games. Those kinds of mistakes gives the other team momentum. It just begins with one bad pass or one bad decision. A lot of the teams we played against were dominant scrumming and mauling teams and we knew we wanted to stay away from mauling and scrimmaging against them. Going into the tournament we realized that that facet of our play was probably one of our weaker links.

RUGBYca: What is the culture of the team when it comes to accountability? Are you able to speak frankly about it at meetings and discuss it with the coaches?

DTH: I think maybe a problem we have is we are too nice with each other as players. We don’t want to say: “You screwed up, or you messed up here” especially when we are on the field. Nobody wants to talk about what just happened. I think that might be a problem with us. We can’t take something on the chin because we might feel it is a little bit of a slap in the face if someone tells you that you did something wrong. Instead we should front up and figure out what the problem was and make sure it doesn’t happen again. People make mistakes and we have to accept that, but we have to take accountability on

RUGBYca: Going into this World Cup were you feeling as good as you have felt going into a World Cup (your third)?

DTH: For me this World Cup was to prove my point a little bit. I went to the (2014) November tour with Canada and I had a terrible tour. I was a really negative person at that time and I had a fall out with the coaches and with the players. All of my frustrations came down to accountability. Accepting losing too easily was something that was getting to me. I almost thought about giving up Canadian rugby because I was in such a dark place. And then I just said to myself -- I’ll l give it one more shot. If it hadn’t been a World Cup I might not have been there. I just wanted to prove that I am not a negative person and I wanted to change the way I was as a person and prove that I can still make plays on the field. I just wanted to give it everything and go from there.

RUGBYca: Results aside, notching four tries in four games must still be a satisfying World Cup for you?

DTH: It’s funny, during the week (leading to the Romania game) some of the players and back’s coach, Leo Crowley, joked about scoring in every game, but I just laughed it off and never really thought about it. To me the bigger aim in that Romania game was to get the win. But when I got that ball eight or ten metres off the line and I looked in front of me and saw the smallest back in front of me, there was no way I was going to pass that ball.

I had to go for it. I remember lying on my back after scoring that try and thinking how cool it was to get one in each game. Obviously, there

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spotlight

PRESENTED BY

Colin Watson

there was no way I was going to pass that ball. I had to go for it. I remember lying on my back after scoring that try and thinking how cool it was to get one in each game.

Proud supporter of Rugby Canada

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has been a lot of press about it and at that moment in time we are leading and I had scored a try in every game, but then the game ends and there is a black cloud that is over the whole performance. It was not as rosy as I thought it was going to be just because we didn’t win the game. People asked me about how I felt and I said “Yeah - it’s a cool stat, but it doesn’t mean anything because we didn’t win a game.

RUGBYca: How did the performance of a team like Japan (beating South Africa and going 3-1) affect the team in terms of belief of what Tier 2 nations can do against the big teams?

DTH: I think a team like Japan shows what good structure, good game planning and belief can do.

This is not the first time we have seen this at a World Cup. Last World Cup Tonga beat France, which was huge. What I take away from this 2015 World Cup is that, not just Canada but all Tier 2 nations, are a lot closer to the Tier 1 nations than we were in 2011 and 2007. I remember hearing a stat on TV during one of the last pool games that the average score between Tier 1 and Tier 2 nations last World Cup was around 40 points and this World Cup it is in the 20s. So obviously something is happening, we are all getting better. Having said that however, I think World Rugby still needs to do a much better job of promoting Tier 2 nations with more funding and better schedules.

Nobody can tell me you should be able to play three test matches in 11 days and perform at the highest level in every game. That just doesn’t happen. So there are a lot of improvements to be done by World Rugby and hopefully they do it before 2019.

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SEVENS PREVIEW

PRESENTED BY

Canadian men aim to qualify for RIO By mark janzen

I

n Amsterdam, at the last tournament of the 2014-15 season, Canada’s women’s sevens team finally Canada advanced to its second straight Cup Final and, with a 20-17 win over Australia, captured a tournament title for the first time in the country’s history. With the win, Canada earned second place overall, edging the Aussies by two points, and made an emphatic statement to the world: “We’re here to win.”

Now, with the 2015-16 season approaching, the team has its sights emphatically set on taking its game to the next level as it prepares, ultimately, for the Olympic Games. After finishing third overall in each of the two previous seasons, last season’s second place finish solidified Canada’s spot as a legitimate title threat and, having already qualified for the Olympics, the team’s days and nights are now bathed in gold medal dreams.

While New Zealand still remain the favorites to win both the Women’s Sevens Series and the Olympics – last year the Kiwis won the first four tournaments before cruising to the series title – Canada’s late-season success last year will have the team percolating with confidence entering the 2015-16 campaign.

While the Olympics and the Sevens Series at large are the big carrots, the Canadian side will have one other particular priority: winning on home soil. With the distinct flavour of disappointment likely still stinging following last year’s sixth place finish in Langford, Canada will return home this year on April 16-17 with nothing but victory in mind.

With a roster that is familiar to both teammates and fans, this year’s Canadian side looks every bit as exciting and every bit as good as any team Canada has ever selected. With the inaugural Olympic competition providing a tantalizing year-end culmination, this year’s series, which is essentially a long and winding “Road to Rio”, will be better than ever.

2015-16 HSBC Sevens World Series Round 1: Dubai: December 4-5 2014: Canada’s Result (Record): 13th (3-3) Overall Winner: South Africa

Round 7: Hong Kong: April 8-10 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 12th (2-3) Overall Winner: Fiji

Round 2: Cape Town (previously Port Elizabeth): December 12-13 2014: Canada’s Result (Record): 9th (4-2) Overall Winner: South Africa

Round 8: Singapore: April 16-17 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): N/A New Stop Overall Winner: N/A – New Stop

Round 3: Wellington: January 30-31 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 13th (3-3) Overall Winner: New Zealand

Round 9: Paris: May 14-15 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): N/A New Stop Overall Winner:N/A – New Stop

Round 4: Sydney (previously Gold Coast): February 6-7 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 13th (2-4) Overall Winner: Fiji Round 5: Las Vegas: March 4-6 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 8th (2-3) Overall Winner: Fiji Round 6: Vancouver: March 12-13 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): N/A New Stop Overall Winner: N/A – New Stop

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Round 10: London: May 20-22 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 8th (2-3) Overall Winner: USA 2014-15 Stops No Longer On Series Tokyo Canada’s Result (Record): 4th (2-4) Overall Winner: England Glasgow Canada’s Result (Record): 7th (2-3) Overall Winner: Fiji

Ron Leblanc

Ian Muir

T

his year will be unlike any other year on the HSBC Sevens World Series. For the first time in the 16-year history of the globetrotting circuit, the series will not only feature a record 10 tournament stops, but will also serve as a lead-up to the biggest event in Sevens rugby history: the Olympic Games.

For Canada, this year’s campaign will, in part, act as a preparatory tour towards the final Olympic qualification tournament in 2016. With the success Canada garnered in the latter parts of the 2014-15 season – including a fourth place finish in Tokyo, which featured a first ever victory over New Zealand – the 2015-16 series will give the Canadian squad a chance to organize itself for its last shot at earning an Olympic berth while also providing an opportunity of taking another step forward on the world stage. After finishing sixth overall two years ago, last year’s ninth place result, which was marred by 13th place finishes in three of the first four tournaments, marked a regression. However, with positive showings late in the 2014-15 season, Canada will enter this year’s series with a legitimate belief it can make a return to the realm of quarter-final regulars.

If health favours the Canadian entry, which it did not for much of last year, and the team can trot out a consistent lineup, there’s every reason to believe this year’s side can consistently rank amongst the top eight.

This year’s series also includes a home tournament in Vancouver, which the team is targeting as a chance to build an already burgeoning fan base while also aiming for something that has so far eluded them: a tournament title. Along with Vancouver, this year’s series will also feature new stops in Singapore and Paris, with Glasgow and Tokyo being dropped from the 2014-15 schedule.

With the build up towards the Olympics creating more intense competition, this year’s series should prove better for the Pan American gold-medal winning Canadian side which looks like a team on the rise and one to watch as the seven-a-side brand marches to Rio. Sean Duke

Canadian women confident for 2015-16 tour By mark janzen

2015-16 HSBC Women’s Sevens Series Round 1: Dubai: December 2-4, 2015 2014: Canada’s Result (Record): 3rd (4-2) Overall Winner: New Zealand

Round 4: Langford: April 16-17 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 6th (4-2) Overall Winner:New Zealand

Round 2: Sao Paolo: TBA 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 3rd (5-1) Overall Winner: New Zealand

Round 5: London: May 20-22 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 2nd (5-1) Overall Winner:Australia

Round 3: Atlanta: TBA 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 3rd (4-2) Overall Winner:New Zealand

Round 6: Amsterdam: TBA 2015: Canada’s Result (Record): 1st (6-0) Overall Winner: Canada

THE WORLD THE WORLD HITS TOWN IS COMING HSBC WORLD RUGBY WOMEN’S SEVENS SERIES APRIL 16 & 17, 2016 | VICTORIA | LANGFORD

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Colin Watson

RC FUNDRAISING

PRESENTED BY

TEAm spirit RBC teamed up with the Vancouver Island Thunder Aboriginal Rugby Program to send two aboriginal players, Samantha Jack and Hunter Grant, and their assistant coach, Crosby Stewart, to Canada’s official Rugby World Cup send-off dinner in Toronto. Rugby Canada would like to thank RBC for arranging this special surprise for National Team member Phil Mack who is head coach of the Thunder.

Rugby Canada’s 2015 Fundraising W

By PENNY KrolL

ith the growth of Rugby Canada over the past several years, there has also been an increased need to support our players and programs. To supplement money received through World Rugby and our funding partners, several fundraising events were held across Canada and overseas in 2015 to help generate additional revenue.

FEBRUARY 15

Las Vegas Sevens Post Party Fundraiser, Las Vegas, Nevada

MARCH 26

9th Annual Great Canadian Luncheon, Hong Kong

MAY 14

Great Canadian Boat Cruise, London, UK

JUNE 25

Women’s Rugby Super Series Reception, Calgary, AB

JULY 2

Women’s Rugby Super Series Dinner, Edmonton, AB

JULY 16

Players Championship Golf Tournament, Victoria, BC

JULY 27

Players Championship Golf Tournament, Toronto, ON

AUGUST 25

Rugby World Cup Send-off Dinner, Toronto, ON

SEPTEMBER 10 Redtail Golf Outing, Port Stanley, ON Over $385,000 in revenue was generated from these events. We also held two event that were not fundraisers but generated a lot of interest from the rugby community. The Webb Ellis Trophy Tour stopped in both Toronto and Vancouver as part of their tour to visit all of the countries that competed in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Our Annual Awards, hosted

by Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon in British Columbia, saw over 250 guests in attendance to honour the 2014 award recipients and pay tribute to the Women’s 15s team who finished second at the Rugby World Cup last year.

Rugby Canada would like to thank all of the sponsors, guests and gift in kind donors that supported these events. It’s through your generosity and commitment to the growth of rugby in Canada that we are able to enjoy great success and help our teams succeed on and off the pitch.

Next year promises to be just as busy with both the Men’s and Women’s Canada Sevens events and the Summer Olympic Games in Rio, so make sure you are on our email list to receive notices of 2016 events and don’t be left out!

Get your nominations in for our 2015 Annual Awards – deadline to submit nominations for the following categories is December 31st – visit awards.rugbycanada.ca for more details.

Coach Of The Year (Male And Female) Match Official Of The Year Volunteer Of The Year Young Player Of The Year (Male And Female)

HELP SUPPORT RUGBY AEROPLAN BEYOND MILES CHARITY

48

PRESENTED BY

Thank You to Rugby Canada CEO

F

JAG

rom humble beginnings with a home office in his basement, to an organization with offices in two cities and teams that travel the world, it has been a long and satisfying ride for Rugby Canada CEO Graham Brown. He is calling ‘full time’ on a career that saw him take a sport struggling to find an identity within a hockey-mad Canada. He propelled rugby in Canada to Olympian heights, created financial certainty within it and made a mark with the sporting public of this country. We caught up with Graham a few weeks after he had made the announcement that he was leaving Rugby Canada to taking on the role as CEO of Canadian Interuniversity Sports.

By DOUG CROSSE RUGBYca: In 2002 what was your perspective of the job ahead versus looking back now and seeing what you have achieved?

GB: At the time I may have misunderstood the complexity of the job and the scope. In hindsight you couldn’t do the job without the support of so many of the coaches, team managers, volunteers and staff. When I first got there it was a very daunting task.

RUGBYca: How would you rate what you have achieved in thirteen years on the job?

GB: I feel like I am going out on top. I think the organization is in great shape and it’s still got lots of potential to go even further. From where I started to the various stepping off points along the way - the board governance changes, changing the format for our games moving them into bigger stadiums, to challenging ourselves to do bigger and better things. And now getting stops on the women’s and men’s sevens events and selling 10,000 tickets to the Vancouver Sevens in one day, it’s just at a new level. I honestly feel like I could stay and it would be equally as rewarding to keep going but you know what? I am 44 years old and I have got enough time in my career for

one more challenge before I get complacent, which might have happened in rugby. I am a sport administrator by profession so if I was a fan and a rugby alikadoo I would be in the greatest job in the world. Now I have got one more challenge that I think I can put my heart and soul into and see if I can’t do some of the great things I did in rugby with the Canadian Inter-University Sports.

I think it’s important to note that anything achieved at Rugby Canada wasn’t just me. We had great staff, a great board over the years and great people involved. The clubs gave more money along the way and did not once say no to the various initiatives we were working on.

RUGBYca: What do you point to as your single biggest achievement?

GB: Probably opening up the west coast office and forging a relationship with the mayor of Langford (Stewart Young). Being able to build an office, a stadium and now a 20,000 square foot training facility is amazing. That is the single biggest success in my opinion.

RUGBYca: What would you mark as your low point during your time?

GRAHAM BROWN GB: There are two low points I think. The national championships haven’t matured to the way I would have thought. And the second would be that we didn’t qualify (yet) for the men’s Olympic Sevens. We were the best team in the Americas zone for 20 years but for the one year it counted we were second best.

RUGBYca: After you leave this office where do you think the sport of rugby can go?

GB: There is a really strong staff and a really strong board of directors. The Board has got to hire another CEO who is not going to be happy sitting still. They’ve got to make it known that BMO Field now has 34,000 seats and it should look to putting 34,000 people in the stadium at games. When it was 21,000 we always said our goal was 21,000. When it was York University and it was 9,000 seats we set our goal at 9,000.

RUGBYca: When you set the goal of 23,000 for the 2013 game vs. the New Zealand Maori, did you honestly believe it could be done? (It was at the time a new attendance record for BMO Field - soccer or rugby) GB: I honestly believe that if you don’t set the goal and push people to work hard and get them to buy into that goal, you won’t achieve it. Did I really think we could achieve that goal? If we worked really hard to achieve that, whatever we did sell we would have been happy with the result. While I was pleased with that day, I was also proud of our game against Wales in 2009 at York University where we had a hundred complaints about how busy it was, but no one was negative. Everybody said, ‘this is amazing.’ When Canada played Ireland at UBC, we basically had to open the gates because the crowds were so big that if they had a ticket, we let them in, because it was going to take so long to process them that they were going to miss the game.

RUGBYca: How do you grade yourself on the job you did?

GB: The potential downside is sustainability. As an organization you want to keep growing and keep developing. I hope that the structure and foundation that is now in place will enable Rugby Canada to keep going. I think those structures are in place, but Rugby Canada will have to hire a good leader.

RUGBYca: What is the thing you are going to miss most about Rugby Canada?

GB: I am going to miss the people. It’s a great sport. I have gotten to know people in every province in the country. There is no city I don’t go to that I couldn’t call somebody and go for a beer.

Because we did so much fund raising, the special place that I will have is that no matter how much we raise the bar to try and raise money, we always had people who stepped up. So every dinner we ran we met or exceeded our budget. They may be hard yards but we never ran a fundraiser and lost money. They were all well attended, and I think that is a great legacy.

49

GRAHAM BROWN

RUGBYca: And what will you miss the least about Rugby Canada?

GB: I am not going to miss the constant financial struggle. I know it’s not my money and it’s not family money but I treated it like it was. I had sleepless nights wondering if we were going to meet the budget or the payroll. I personally owned the rigours of a zero-based budgeting and I won’t miss that.

RUGBYca: If 2015 Graham Brown could call 2002 Graham Brown, would he recommend he take the job at Rugby Canada?

GB: It’s funny you should say that. I have had a lot of success in rugby and ultimately it may define my career as a sport administrator. But I miss hockey. Who knows where I would be if I had stayed in hockey? I would have worked just as hard and maybe I would be high up in Hockey Canada. Who knows? A proud moment is when my son plays rugby and is asked to attend Canada U17 camps, and various teams. He loves rugby.

Brown Family Graham Brown with his family L to R - Sarah, Aidan, wife Denise, and (front) son Ryan.

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RUGBYca: And what has the toll been on the family after years of travelling and endless hours of work?

GB: There is no toll on my family. There are parents that miss way more than I do. I am a sport’s guy so when you work in sport and love sport you try to never miss your kid playing.

It’s like if you were a musician and you have a talented kid who can play and you never get to see him perform.

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LABRECHE, THE SOLE CANADIAN Rose Labreche is the sole canadian on the World Rugby Sevens Series

By DOUG CROSSE

official business Rose LaBreche poses at recent World Rugby event at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

M

arkham Ontario’s Rose LaBreche has been named to World Rugby’s Sevens Series referee panel for the 2015/16 season. She is among a total of 21 referees who will take charge of Men’s and Women’s Seven Series games, with South Africa’s Rasta Rasivhenge the only name appearing on both lists.

She is among a total of 21 referees who will take charge of Men’s and Women’s Seven Series games.

LaBreche served on the women’s circuit last season, after making her refereeing debut in a full test match during this year’s Super Series, when she took charge of a game between New Zealand vs USA in Edmonton. Most recently she controlled the Ontario Blues vs. ARP Selects game played in Ottawa following the USA vs,

Canada test match.

The 2015/16 Men’s Sevens Series kicks off in Dubai on December 4 with stops in Las Vegas and Vancouver in the spring of 2016. The women’s itinerary has not yet been announced.

MEN’S SERIES PANEL Mike Adamson (SRU), Federico Anselmi (UAR), Nick Briant (NZRU), Ben Crouse (SARU), Craig Joubert (SARU), Richard Kelly (NZRU), Anthony Moyes (ARU), Matt O’Brien (ARU), Taku Otsuki (JRU), Rasta Rasivhenge (SARU), Alex Ruiz (FFR), Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

WOMEN’S SERIES PANEL Jess Beard (NZRU), Beatrice Benvenuti (FIR), Leah Berard (USAR), James Bolabiu (FRU), Sara Cox (RFU), Rose LaBreche (RC), Gabriel Lee (HKRFU), Alhambra Nievas (FER), Amy Perrett (ARU), Rasta Rasivhenge (SARU)

Take Charge Rose is also an official for Ontario Rugby.

51

centre OF EXCELLENCE

PRESENTED BY

EXPANSION OF RUGBY CANADA CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

J

ust ahead of the call for a general election this past August the Conservative government unveiled its financial support for the expansion of Rugby Canada’s Centre of Excellence based in Langford, BC, just outside Victoria.

The proposed 19,000 square foot, two-storey facility will have the capacity to have all of Rugby Canada’s teams train in one location. The building will be used by high-performance amateur athletes as well as the general public.

JohnDuncan,MemberofParliamentforVancouver Island North in announcing the funding, said, “Our Government is proud to invest in the Canadian Rugby Centre of Excellence – High Performance Training Centre Project in the City of Langford.

“The Centre will continue to support the training of Canada’s best amateur rugby athletes while also offering recreational opportunities to the general public that will help maintain their high quality of life. As a result the Centre will serve as an attractive resource that will draw visitors and residents for years to come.”

The Government of Canada will provide up to $3 million towards the project under the Building

Rugby Canada

RUGBY CANADA PRESS RELEASE

Canada Fund – Major Infrastructure Component.

This funding is conditional on the project meeting applicable federal eligibility requirements with respect to the Building Canada Fund and the signing of a contribution agreement.

• The City of Langford will be responsible for $2.5 million.

• Rugby Canada has committed $899,956 towards the project.

• Total project cost: $7,840,000 The training centre will include a 7,000 square foot gymnasium, change rooms with shower and bathroom facilities; recovery and stretching rooms, including one with hydro-therapy facilities; a kitchen/dining and lounge area; meeting, office and storage space; six one-bedroom studio units; a therapy clinic, a reception area and the Canada Rugby Hall of Fame.

Mayor of Langford, Stewart Young has been a major leader in getting Rugby Canada based in his municipality, throwing major funding over the past five years to achieve the goal of having a national sport based in the idyllic town that rests just 15 minutes from Victoria.

“I would like to thank the Federal Government for this generous grant creating a Centre of Excellence for Rugby Canada to ensure that these elite athletes have a place to train and prepare for a Olympic gold medal in 2016,” said Young.

Outgoing CEO for Rugby Canada, Graham Brown echoed those sentiments adding, “This is a major game changing investment for us by the Government of Canada. Current and future generations of athletes will reap enormous benefit from training at the Centre of Excellence. We are thankful for the federal government’s commitment to rugby.”

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54

SCHOOLS

Toronto High School Sevens

By BROCK SMITH

W

ith excitement building ahead of Rio 2016, where men’s and women’s rugby Sevens will make their Olympic debut, one nontraditional pocket of Canadian rugby has already been showcasing the fervor of the sport for well over a decade.

Despite not yet registering on the radars of most Canadian secondary school athletic departments, rugby Sevens has never been more popular in high schools across the Greater Toronto Area – with numbers continuing to grow.

“Rugby sevens is the fastest-growing sport in Toronto high schools, hands-down,” says Dan Kunanec, Toronto District School Board rugby Sevens league founder/convener, and head coach of the Don Mills Collegiate Sevens program. “When students get the ball and can express themselves on the pitch, you can see they’re hooked on the sport.”

From modest beginnings - the Toronto District School Board hosted its first city-wide Sevens tournament in 2003, featuring 80 athletes from three schools - the TDSB now has 88 Sevensspecific teams, including 36 girls teams, that span five divisions representing 40 different regional schools. An estimated 1,400 athletes will

Rugby participate in the TDSB’s nine this fall. sevens is tournaments “Each year there’s been the fastest- incremental growth. The kids growing themselves, once they try the they’re hooked forever, sport in sport, and once the coaches get Toronto involved, they recognize how much the tournaments can high he adds. “From there, schools, offer,” school administrators can see handsthat students are involved in something positive. When you down. expose rugby Sevens’ virtues

Dan Kunanec

over a period of a decade or more, there’s no real surprise how quickly it’s grown.”

After years of running one-off tournaments, the TDSB made history in 2009 when it became the first school board in North America to approve the sport and operate a fully-fledged rugby Sevens league. Two years later, rugby Sevens was formally recognized by the board as an “official sport” – a trailblazing move that has since paved the way for four additional Ontario school boards to follow suit.

The success of rugby Sevens across Toronto’s secondary schools lies in its passionate base of coaches and organizers: a large network of volunteers has allowed the TDSB league to transition from an ad-hoc system where teams participated in the odd tournament each year, to become a welloiled machine that features firm schedules and scorekeeping, well-coordinated divisions, and an unbeatable festival-style atmosphere.

“You need champions – leaders, coaches,

TDSAA

PRESENTED BY

conveners – who have the drive to want to make these competitions a success for the students,” says Kunanec. “With the backing of a strong support group, our festival-style tournaments go above and beyond. We have music and barbecues, there’s great student attendance, the games are fast-paced and exciting – it’s a blast, and it keeps people coming back for more.”

With a league structure firmly established, it’s no surprise that Toronto high school rugby Sevens alumni have already been making waves for Canadian national teams. This past summer, Ghislaine Landry and Lucas Hammond – both TDSB grads – earned gold medals for Canada’s women’s and men’s Sevens teams at the Pan Am Games, while Malvern CI product Liam Underwood representing Canada at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. “When you look at our national athletes and the character they show, these individuals are real heroes,” adds Kunanec. “We have role models in our sport, and it’s unlike any other sport out there.

It makes rugby that much more appealing for young people to play.”

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The best way to build strong communities is to safeguard the health of their members. Through initiatives like our All Aboard for Safety Program, CN is committed to working with community leaders and safety-related organizations to help prevent injuries and promote safe lifestyles for everyone.

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RUGBY COMMUNITY

PRESENTED BY

Inaugural Rugby Conference Join coaches, administrators, and leaders at the 2016 National Rugby Conference.

By Matt Tidcombe

Guest speaker Jean Côté Professor and Director School of Kinesiology/Health Studies Queen’s University

Rugby Canada

Guest speaker Richard Cheetham University of Winchester Saracens RFC Fulham Football

I

n Rugby Canada’s continuing efforts to grow the game across the country, the inaugural National Rugby Conference will kick off January, 29-31, 2016, at the Hilton Meadowvale in Mississauga, Ontario. The National Rugby Conference will feature likeminded rugby minds, not just from Canada, but from around the world.

Next year’s conference features various programs including keynote speakers, panel discussions, technical workshops on coaching, refereeing, administration and other specialties.

Coaches, administrators and leaders from the Canadian rugby community will gain insight on specific topics, and connect with fellow rugby

enthusiasts, including Rugby Canada coaches, as they investigate ways to grow the game more prominently in Canada.

Jean Côté, a professor and Director in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, will make a presentation on the most recent developments and coaching research related to elite athletes, their continued participation and their personal development through sport.

Richard Cheetham, a Senior Fellow in Sports Coaching at the University of Winchester, who has worked for both the Saracens RFC and Fulham

Inspire the future of canadian rugby

Football Clubs, will also present at the conference.

“The invitation to attend this conference is a really exciting opportunity and one that allows me to contribute my ideas and experiences gained from coaching and coach education,” Cheetham said. “My presentation is designed to inspire coaches to develop creative and innovative sessions so as to improve performance and engagement among players. I am very much looking forward to supporting the game in Canada and meeting those involved in its development.”

More keynote speakers and guests will be announced in the coming weeks, check www. rugbyconference.ca for the latest updates and early-bird registration.

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57

PRESENTED BY

views of RUGBY IN CANADA

JIM DIXON General Manager, Rugby Canada

A BUSY YEAR!

There is no doubt it has been an incredibly busy few months for the rugby department of Rugby Canada. With a Rugby World Cup, Pan Am Games and hosting the Pacific Nation’s Cup and Women’s Super Series, 2015 has been an eventful period.

A

dditionally, we’ve seen the departure of long-time Rugby Canada CEO, Graham Brown. No one will ever question Graham’s commitment to Rugby Canada over the years and everyone in the rugby department wishes him well as he moves on to his next challenge at Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Rugby Canada and the rugby department thank him for his unwavering determination to move our organization forward and challenge all staff to meet their potential - for the betterment of rugby in Canada.

Having the chance to reflect on the past few months, it is important to recognize the achievements and reflect on areas requiring greater focus and development. In both cases, understanding why we find ourselves in a positive or challenging position is vital.

Let’s first make special mention of both our Men’s and Women’s Sevens programs, which walked away from the Pan Am Games in Toronto with gold medals. The The Olympics squads and players were exemplary ambassadors is the of our Union and absolute captured the attention of pinnacle for fans, both young and old. these two It was a proud moment for all of us at Rugby programs Canada and I’d like to and we are all publically congratulate excited to see both programs on their achievement. them represent Our Women’s program Canada with has qualified for the distinction.

2016 Rio Olympics and our Men are on track to qualify via the repechage process. The Pan Ams environment provided both groups with a very small taste of what is to come in Rio. The Olympics is the absolute pinnacle for these two programs and we are all excited to see them represent Canada with distinction.

Rio 2016 provides an exceptional opportunity for rugby in Canada, a chance to show the public how skillful, athletic and exciting rugby is as

58

a sport and to draw new players to our game.

Schools and clubs have the chance to embrace this opportunity, something we must all prepare for. As a team we are working hard with our partners to ensure the pathways are clarified, strengthened, and are open for those who wish to enjoy our game and excel at it.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup was an exceptional tournament for all enthusiastic rugby fans. England proved gracious hosts and it was a privilege to have the opportunity to take in some fixtures, most importantly Canada’s. Our players did us proud, under very challenging circumstances. To enter the battle against the likes of France and Ireland, two highly professional, talented and resourcerich rugby nations, and demonstrate that we have the potential to compete, is not to be underestimated. It’s important to state, we are not satisfied with simply participating.

Rugby Canada and members of our rugby

Another Try Ashley Steacy was part of an amazing weekend in Langford this past April.

community want the team competing and winning on World Rugby’s pinnacle stage. As we exit this Rugby World Cup cycle and look forward to Japan 2019, we have some work to do to retain our status as a Rugby World Cup participant. It is recognized that we must do more, do something different, and do it better if we are to continue to compete and win. Finally, can I thank all those fans that travelled to the UK to support the team. Your encouragement was greatly appreciated by all at Rugby Canada.

As I’ve stated, 2016 brings new and exciting challenges for Rugby Canada. Our first Olympics and equally as exciting, hosting the men’s HSBC World Sevens Series in Vancouver in March. As we did at the Women’s World Series stop in Langford, BC, we have a chance to showcase the pride, tradition and welcoming spirit of Canadian rugby. An opportunity to promote the game, engage communities throughout Canada and show aspiring players first hand what it takes to compete on the world stage. Activities and festivals, celebrating the game, will surround March’s tournament, I have no doubt it will become one of the top stops on Rugby World’s Sevens circuit.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to once again thank everyone for a fantastic 2015. What a year it has been. Have a safe and enjoyable festive season and we look forward to seeing you in 2016.

Lorne Collicutt

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Rugby Canada and its associated logo are a registered trademark of Canadian Rugby Union/FĂŠdĂŠration Canadienne de Rugby, used under license.