Rugby News from unexpected places

[Omar Comin']

And Russia beat Canada reasonably comfortably. Which doesn't bode well for the Canadians as they host the Eagles in Halifax next week. Considering the Eagles beat the Russians by 50 last week it could be a bloodbath.

It sounds like Russia played a lot better against Canada than they did against the US though. The weather was probably a bit of a factor for them against the Eagles. Good signs they'll at least be able to put up a fight in the world cup.

But yeah, I still expect the US will beat Canada reasonably comfortably. On paper it seemed like Canada wouldn't have much trouble winning the repechage but on current form I'm picking Hong Kong!

I'd put lunch money on them being the up there with the best Tier 2 side going around. Great to witness their development.

I reckon they're only behind Fiji and Japan now. About on par with Georgia/Samoa/Tonga. And all these teams are capable of upsetting big teams.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

It sounds like Russia played a lot better against Canada than they did against the US though. The weather was probably a bit of a factor for them against the Eagles. Good signs they'll at least be able to put up a fight in the world cup.

But yeah, I still expect the US will beat Canada reasonably comfortably. On paper it seemed like Canada wouldn't have much trouble winning the repechage but on current form I'm picking Hong Kong!



I reckon they're only behind Fiji and Japan now. About on par with Georgia/Samoa/Tonga. And all these teams are capable of upsetting big teams.

Canada did make changes from last week against Russia with the USA game in mind but whether they were all that significant is questionable. Russia had a week to better acclimatise to NA which would have helped but still. The Eagles will field their strongest possible side against Canada. They always do and that side man for man is better than their Canadian counterparts. This game is still within the international test window so it should be the same team that beat Scotland.

Gary Gold has been a good hire for the Eagles. Him moving to the US and constantly assessing talent has also done wonders. He has set standards he wants to achieve and they are making progress toward those game on game. The arrival of MLR has helped prepare the domestic pros far beyond what the old club structures ever could which helps as well.

 

[Beer Baron]

Real fall from grace for Canada. They appear to be steadily dropping in WC results from the early days when they beat all tier 2/3 nations and gave France and even the '91 wobs a run for their momey

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[Harv]

It sounds like Russia played a lot better against Canada than they did against the US though. The weather was probably a bit of a factor for them against the Eagles. Good signs they'll at least be able to put up a fight in the world cup.

But yeah, I still expect the US will beat Canada reasonably comfortably. On paper it seemed like Canada wouldn't have much trouble winning the repechage but on current form I'm picking Hong Kong!



I reckon they're only behind Fiji and Japan now. About on par with Georgia/Samoa/Tonga. And all these teams are capable of upsetting big teams.

Haven't seen Hong Kong play this year but they've had great results. It's curious that Canada is struggling. Hopefully getting a few sides in MLR will reinforce the game's infrustructure up there. Reckon US would give Japan a shake--will be interesting to see how Georgia copes with the Japanese. Loving the strength of the Fijians. Radradra's inclusion is mighty. He was an absolute beast in the Barbarians game against England and was tremendous on debut for the Sevens squad.

 

[Omar Comin']

Loving the strength of the Fijians. Radradra's inclusion is mighty. He was an absolute beast in the Barbarians game against England and was tremendous on debut for the Sevens squad.

Yeah Fiji look really strong. Their first XV is basically a tier 1 level team. They have a tough schedule at the world cup though so their depth will be tested then. I'd love to see them finish 2nd to us in the pool.

 

[Rebels3]

Fiji's problem against tier 1 sides will come in the pack. The have Nakarawa and a few flankers/no.8s playing top tier french rugby but by in large the remainder of the pack isn't at tier 1 level. That backline tho has some serious quality. Could be a banana skin for us at the WC. Infact it's shaping up to look like a few banana skin games with Georgia and Fiji

 

[Omar Comin']

Fiji's problem against tier 1 sides will come in the pack. The have Nakarawa and a few flankers/no.8s playing top tier french rugby but by in large the remainder of the pack isn't at tier 1 level. That backline tho has some serious quality. Could be a banana skin for us at the WC. Infact it's shaping up to look like a few banana skin games with Georgia and Fiji

Well their pack matched and at times bettered Georgia's on Saturday. At the last world cup their scrum had periods of dominance against both us and England. If you look at their current squad the only position they don't have tier 1 professional level players is hooker. I think their biggest weakness is at 10 though. Ben Volavola is not a bad player, but Fiji with a word class 10 would be a potential top 5 side.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

The Canada/USA game went largely as expected. With the Eagles posting a strong 17 - 42 scoreline in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Added to that the largely the same Scotland outfit that the Eagles beat last weekend put more than 40 on a dismal Argentina in Argentina.

 

[Omar Comin']

If the US can maintain or better their recent improvement over the next year or so I wonder how soon we might see SANZAAR looking to add them to the Rugby Championship. If they (and Japan for that matter) can show they're roughly on par with Argentina surely it would happen given those markets dwarf Argentina's.

It's an interesting dilemma because SANZAAR won't want to add them too soon and dilute the quality of the tournament, but there's a lot of potential money to be made and (wrt the USA) they'll want to bring them into the fold before the European Unions do.

It's weird how bad Argentina were this June though given how strong the Jaguares have been leading up to the tests. Hopefully for them it was just a coaching issue and with Ledesma or someone else in charge they'll be a lot better.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

If the US can maintain or better their recent improvement over the next year or so I wonder how soon we might see SANZAAR looking to add them to the Rugby Championship. If they (and Japan for that matter) can show they're roughly on par with Argentina surely it would happen given those markets dwarf Argentina's.

It's an interesting dilemma because SANZAAR won't want to add them too soon and dilute the quality of the tournament, but there's a lot of potential money to be made and (wrt the USA) they'll want to bring them into the fold before the European Unions do.

It's weird how bad Argentina were this June though given how strong the Jaguares have been leading up to the tests. Hopefully for them it was just a coaching issue and with Ledesma or someone else in charge they'll be a lot better.

Well, Gary Gold has set some steep benchmarks for the Eagles to achieve from all accounts. Many of which they are still a little way off according to those with hooks within the squad. They've definitely been improving but are still a work in progress.

With MLR in place I think we'll see them really begin to make moves post RWC 2019.

Every Argentine I've spoken to has the current woes down to coaching. The players are disillusioned and disengaged with Hourcade. Wouldn't shock me if Ledesma is given the reins of Los Pumas as well.

Finally, if both or either one of Japan/USA put up a good showing in 2019I could see SANZAAR seriously considering opening the door for them. Far too tempting not to. Huge markets for the alliance.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

Canadian rigby is in a woeful place. It needs a complete overhaul. It was most competitive andnchurning out good olayers when the Pacific Oride was established out of Victoria which consistently played compeitice rugby against good local and international competiton. It was a quasi junior rugby program.
They attempted to establish one out east but abandoned it quickly.
The canadian rugby championships seems to be a failure by and large.

In the bc league, there are limits on how many carded players can olay for a team in a given week so you might find canadas international hooker olaying second division one week because Castaways have reached their weekly limit. Its ridiculous.
The MLR will help
If we can get 2-3 teams going. Shocking fall tho. Has been happening since just after 2007 world cuo

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Canadian rigby is in a woeful place. It needs a complete overhaul. It was most competitive andnchurning out good olayers when the Pacific Oride was established out of Victoria which consistently played compeitice rugby against good local and international competiton. It was a quasi junior rugby program.
They attempted to establish one out east but abandoned it quickly.
The canadian rugby championships seems to be a failure by and large.

In the bc league, there are limits on how many carded players can olay for a team in a given week so you might find canadas international hooker olaying second division one week because Castaways have reached their weekly limit. Its ridiculous.
The MLR will help
If we can get 2-3 teams going. Shocking fall tho. Has been happening since just after 2007 world cuo

Things definitely need to change and soon. The best thing RC can do in the short term is get out of the way and sanction MLR so at the very least the Arrows can enter the fray next season. The rot has to be stopped at some point. Watching the match over the weekend and it was really a case of men vs boys at times. For the sake of Rugby in NA Canada needs to be at least competitive with a rising Eagles and an active member in MLR.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

We need a Vancouver and a Toronto team at a minimum. They should be Calgary as well. If the backers are there Victoria would be good too. Would definitely pull 5-7k a game

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

We need a Vancouver and a Toronto team at a minimum. They should be Calgary as well. If the backers are there Victoria would be good too. Would definitely pull 5-7k a game

Well, according to guys who are more tuned in than I to all things MLR the only thing holding at the very least the Arrows back from announcing their intent is sanctioning on behalf of RC. Canada needs at least 2 and likely in time 4 teams involved in MLR alongside a number of Canada eligible players spread throughout the US MLR teams to be competitive moving forward.

Both Toronto/Ontario and Vancouver are the two most obvious first locations and Calgary could be a good third. I would have thought Victoria would be a solid option but apparently it's too small to host a professional sporting team according to other Canadian Rugby fans I've encountered. Which I find odd as the NFL has the Packers and Green Bay metro is a little smaller than Victoria's. Though I am aware that the Packers are essentially a Wisconsin team and that it's pop. is significantly larger than Van. Islands. Even then, I like yourself think it would be a good location regardless. Same with Halifax after this weekend.

 

[Omar Comin']

Finally, if both or either one of Japan/USA put up a good showing in 2019 I could see SANZAAR seriously considering opening the door for them. Far too tempting not to. Huge markets for the alliance.

Yeah I wonder what the format would be in this case. If you add Japan and the US do you just play a straight round robin like the 6 Nations? That would mean 5 games for each team and just 2 at home every 2nd year. I think the unions would want to guarantee at least 3 home matches like they get now so you'd either have to extend the tournament in some way, or play some additional matches outside it.

I guess you could have 2 pools of 3, where you play each team in your own pool twice and the teams in the other pool once. To start with, instead of them being pools they could be divisions with separate winners but still with the cross-divisional games that count towards the point totals.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Yeah I wonder what the format would be in this case. If you add Japan and the US do you just play a straight round robin like the 6 Nations? That would mean 5 games for each team and just 2 at home every 2nd year. I think the unions would want to guarantee at least 3 home matches like they get now so you'd either have to extend the tournament in some way, or play some additional matches outside it.

I guess you could have 2 pools of 3, where you play each team in your own pool twice and the teams in the other pool once. To start with, instead of them being pools they could be divisions with separate winners but still with the cross-divisional games that count towards the point totals.

Well. We have the Bledisloe Cup so we'd be fine. Honestly I don't know what format it would take. I really need to see how Japan goes to make an attempt at it. One way to do it could be like the ENC once did and run it over two seasons or look to add a 7th team like Fiji so each team has 6 games.

 

[dru]

If we are serious about locking in USA in the shrt to medium term future, the RC Nations need to start adding the USA into touring schedules now. This might simply be Barbarian teams, or second 15 and need not involve all of NZ/RSA/Aus/Argentina every year. But some form of exposure should be formalised.

 

[Omar Comin']

Well. We have the Bledisloe Cup so we'd be fine. Honestly I don't know what format it would take. I really need to see how Japan goes to make an attempt at it. One way to do it could be like the ENC once did and run it over two seasons or look to add a 7th team like Fiji so each team has 6 games.

Fiji is the obvious choice but I worry they wouldn't be able to access their best players. I know there's a release window for the RC but I think many players would make themselves unavailable in order to keep their contracts in Europe. I doubt they'd be able to make enough money playing for Fiji to make the inevitable cut to their club salaries worth it.

If Canada could sort themselves out they'd be a likely inclusion.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

If we are serious about locking in USA in the shrt to medium term future, the RC Nations need to start adding the USA into touring schedules now. This might simply be Barbarian teams, or second 15 and need not involve all of NZ/RSA/Aus/Argentina every year. But some form of exposure should be formalised.

I certainly agree on that front. SANZAAR nations should be looking to use the States as a middle point on the Spring tours. Either on their way to or from Europe. Engage more with them leading into potential integration at Test level. One year the Wallabies and AB's the next the Boks and Pumas. On the years they don't tour they could play a game against Japan and perhaps even Georgia on a similar schedule.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Fiji is the obvious choice but I worry they wouldn't be able to access their best players. I know there's a release window for the RC but I think many players would make themselves unavailable in order to keep their contracts in Europe. I doubt they'd be able to make enough money playing for Fiji to make the inevitable cut to their club salaries worth it.

If Canada could sort themselves out they'd be a likely inclusion.

That would be a major stumbling block.