The Latest
Anscombe Ousted!
Adios, Canada. In a release yesterday by Rugby Canada, we read of a number of outcomes from the recent program review, to be implemented immediately for the NSMT’s XV’s. Salient points could be synthesized as follows; the addition of a "High Performance Director (responsible for both men’s...
Wednesday's Ruck & Maul
Fake News Abounds! It’s the same the whole world over…..aka, this site not exempted……aka, reasons why The Ruggernut should be history! It is with liberal amounts of crow on the plate that today we bring you a number of corrections from weekend’s musings. COACHING CORRECTIONS: It is with...
Monday's Musings
Kudos to TSN who has planned extensive coverage of the upcoming RWC Women's Championships, held in Ireland. The schedule is as follows; CAN Vs HONG KONG, Wed., Aug 9th, 9:00 a.m. PST; CAN Vs WALES, Sun., Aug 13th, 8:55 a.m. PST; CAN Vs NZ, Thurs., Aug 17th, 3:55 a.m. PST. FINAL - Sat., Aug...
CW Talent at the Youth Commonwealth Games
Canada's U18 Sevens teams ( M & F) are off to a great start at the World Youth Commonwealth Games Sevens held in the Bahamas. The Men opened day # 1 with wins over Sri Lanka, 19 - 15; Fiji, 21 - 19 and dropped their game to England, 10 - 26. Today they kicked off with a 42 - 0 sweep of...
Monday's Musings
B.C. Bears Down in Opener B.C. finds themselves in an unusual position following their opening win over The Prairie Wolf Pack on Friday night - atop the table! It is credit to JBAA's, Tony Healy and Phil Mack, the coaching duo, who masterminded this one. We'll see how far it goes when the...
CW - Seeking Coaching Applications for Head Coach - Senior Women's Program
Castaway Wanderers – Women’s Program Head Coach Castaway Wanderers is seeking a Head coach for its Senior Women’s program for the upcoming 2017/2018 season. The CW women’s program was established in the 2015/2016 season and had an incredible inaugural season going on to win the...
CRC Opener
Whilst it's off-season for some, for others it's year-round rugby. The Men's Annual CRC Championships open tonight when the B.C.Bears play the Prairie Wolf Pack. This game will be streamed at 7:00 p.m. and can be viewed HERE. CW will have representation from Doug Fraser, Jake Ilnicki, Cam...
Friday Smorgasbord
"Cosmo XV", winners of Williams Lake Rustlers Tournament. Last weekend, a CW initiated, Cosmopolitan XV, coached by a robust recovering, Riley Ilnicki and captained by 'returning' native, Nate Stewart, won the Williams Lake Stampeders' Tournament. The composite group also included Tournament...
Monday's Musings
Four of the day's best! And yet another calamity! We have watched the men's team kick away hard won ball indiscriminately, for these past games and Saturday was no different. If we can't beat "big opposition" in tight, the wide channels must be explored. On one of the few occasions that...
Saturday Summary
Today Canada goes into the fray against U.S.A. to determine who will be Americas #1 pick for RWC 2019. One change has been made to last week's starting XV with McRorie replacing an unavailable, Mack, leaving no obvious replacement at #9 if needs be. Coach Anscombe has offered a number of...
Wednesday's Ruck & Maul
CHANCES GONE BEGGING? This past weekend produced two results which may have players rueing missed chances. Canada's NSWT 7's finished third in the season's final tournament in France and third overall in the Series, a placing I am sure they felt could have been one higher, leading the Aussies...
Rugby Begats Politics!
Congratulations to our CW mate, Steve Thompson, better known in Rugby circles as the “Ox”! The announcement was made this morning of his selection as B.C. Speaker of the House. Unfortunately, in the crazy world which is B.C. politics, his reign may be a short one. No matter your politics,...
Prognostications Gone Awry
The absolute cock-up of the Canadian National Anthem at the NSMT Vs Romania match on Saturday was most unfortunately emblematic of that which was to follow. I cannot recall watching such an abysmal game of rugby for a long time, as well, Canada had a man advantage for three quarters of the...
CW's Zussman Notches a Brace - First Leg Up!
It was a tough "watch" with the down streaming freezing, breaking up and often non-existent. The fan attendance was "two men and a dog" for what was generally, a well played match by the victors. In the early going Canada shunted a huge Australian scrum backwards at the rate of knots on four...
Hat-trick Predicted
Canada’s NSWT has made a few “tweaks” for this afternoon’s (Canada time) game against Australia. CW’s Britt Waters returns to the centre slot and Belchos moves back to #10, a move that makes both players more effective, with the backline being a little better orchestrated by Belchos in...
WEEKEND WARRIORS
Canada’s U20 Men go into game #2 of the Junior World Rugby Qualifier with a 46 – 12 spread against the United Sates on Saturday. CW’s, ‘The Magician’ Ngongo notched one of the seven tallies in the opener last weekend. This match will be the curtain-raiser to the Romanian test. Canada’s NSMT lost...
Challenging Weekend Begins on Wrong Foot
Captain Kelly, dishes off.... The Canadian NSWT lost to the New Zealand Black Ferns "last night" by a score of 28 - 16. This was game #1 of three, being used as a `warm-up`for the Women`s RWC. The Black Ferns improved their record to 13 - 0 vs Canada. It was close at the break, 14 - 8,...
Monday's Musings
There can be no excuses from here on in, as the British Lions commence the business end of their N.Z. Tour. They opened with an unimpressive win over a "Barabarians" team, 13 - 7, with some pundits claiming "jetlag"! Good thing is for those real rugger-nuts we will actually be able to see all...
CW YOUTH Earn Honors
CW`s Anton `The Magician` Ngongo, has been selected to Canada`s Men`s U20 team for a two-game series Vs U.S.A. on June, 13 & 17. The winner will qualify for the World Rugby Trophy tournament held in August. Go, go, Anton! CW`s Sophie De Goede and Denise Roy have been selected...
Monday's Musings
A clean pair of heels from Charity Williams. Summer Is A ‘comin’ Weekend News – Women’s 7’s – Day#1 – Canada's NSWT went undefeated in Pool play. Caroline Crossley got a few trots and played her role. For me, most interesting news of the day was that the Kiwis left their three top ladies...
Wednesday's Ruck & Maul
CW’s Crossley Gets the Nod for Home Sevens Congratulations to CW’s Caroline Crossley, the only change from the NSWT that finished in second place at the last tournament in Japan. Canada sits third overall on the ladder, a mere two points behind Australia. Action starts Saturday 12:20 p.m. for...
Monday's Musings
Men's 7's Rise to Top Echelon Again Heady stuff for CW’s Mike Fuailefau, from the fields of Gordon Head and Windsor Park to the pinnacle of the Sevens world – the All Star (Dream Team) at the London Sevens. ‘onya, Mikey. The London event opened with a solid Canadian win over Fiji. The boys...
Chef de Mission Message
Ryan Smith reports in that the Pride boys will be a little later to arrive at The Temple this 'arvo, as they will be coming from SLS where they will have had an inspirational tete a tete with Canada's U20 men, lashing at a Possibles vs Probables encounter. Also, he informs us that the BIG...
Wednesday's Ruck & Maul
Second Coming of Casey Dunning It is a pleasure to blog on a massive upcoming weekend event – a Reunion of the Pacific Pride RFC. John Mac Millan reports that over 65 alum have indicated their attendance, coming from as far away as The Land of Oz. Both, Casey Dunning and Mike Pyke now reside...
Monday's Musings
Doug dots down. South Island Men; Island Women Victorious Crimson Tide Men, liberally sprinkled with CW guys displayed superiority over the North Island Tsunami at Windsor on Saturday. For the Tide, Dougie Fraser and Jo Morris scored a brace in the 46 – 19 win. Other CW boys on the squad...