Notes from the North

Just before Christmas a brave few media took part in a conference call with Rugby Canada GM Jim Dixon and newly re-signed head coach Kieran Crowley. The call was geared largely towards the new contract, but we did manage to squeeze a few extra tidbits out of the conversation. Here is a run-down of some of the things brought up, and a couple others from around the frozen north.

NO REPECHAGE YET

While the length of the contract is intended for Crowley to stay at the helm through the World Cup qualifiers in 2017, he confirmed that his contract does not take into account a possible need to qualify via the repechage route. Specifically, the contract expires on August 31, 2017. Crowley did state categorically that he would like to stay on through to the 2019 World Cup if that becomes an option down the road.

BUSY YEAR AHEAD

No new opponents were named, but Dixon says there is a full slate of action ahead this year. After the Americas Rugby Championship in February-March there will be three tests each in the international windows of June and November. The Pacific Challenge, Pacific Nations Cup, and the old iteration of the ARC are gone – at least as far as Canada is concerned – but there will be a tour to Europe in August for our domestic players. Presumably this will fall under the ‘Canada A’ banner as it falls outside the test windows. Crowley says the team will be of similar strength to the ARC side, which he confirmed will be almost entirely domestic-based, and selected on previous Canadian Rugby Championship form.

OLMSTEAD IN

One overseas player who will be around for the ARC is Australian-based Evan Olmstead. The big second row is in a tough spot at the moment, as he is classified as an ‘import’ both in Europe and now in Australia because of his test caps. The earliest he’ll get a look-in for Super Rugby in 2017, so he says it’s back to Canada at the end of January for a couple tune-up matches with Capilano before the test series.

“Unfortunately I count as a foreigner for Super Rugby in Australia now, even though I’ve lived here for 21 years due to my Canadian caps! I’m definitely available [for the ARC] and plan on playing as long as I’m selected. I’ll try and get another couple of Caps games in January as well, it should be fun!”

TAYLOR OUT

A ‘local’ who won’t be part of the squad is a player you might not even be aware of. Former Ireland u20 rep Chris Taylor is Canadian-eligible and currently in his second season playing for UBC Thunderbirds after leaving the Ulster academy. Many were hoping the highly rated prop would make himself available and Taylor admits he’s been contracted by the national selectors, but won’t be available for Canada just yet – though he didn’t rule out doing so in the future.

“Finishing my masters is my focus at the moment alongside playing for UBC. Playing for Canada is something that I would consider in the future.”

LOCAL COACHES FOR ARC

One of the provisions for Crowley’s extension was the addition of ‘Canadian pathway’ coach to the staff, something that raised some eyebrows. That point was clarified somewhat in that it doesn’t necessarily mean a Canadian-born coach, just someone who lives here on a permanent basis. That means guys like Mike Shelley, Graeme Moffat, Dean Murten, etc., still qualify as a ‘Canadian pathway’ coach. Seeing as a sizeable chunk of Canadian rep-level coaches are expats, that seems a sensible decision.

As for the immediate needs for coaches with the departures of Neil Barnes and Leo Crowley to Super Rugby contracts, the staff for the ARC will come from within Canada. Look for Shelley and Moffat as near-certainties and maybe someone like Chris Silverthorn to come in and help out. Long-term additions may or may not happen before the June tests.

SUPER RUGBY?

What’s that? A Canadian franchise in Super Rugby? You may have heard the rumours elsewhere, and Dixon confirmed that he did indeed have conversations with SANZAR officials during the World Cup about a possible Canadian entrant to the Southern Hemisphere competition. As of right now there are zero plans for that to happen, and the funds don’t exist for such a venture, but there is interest from both parties, which is sort of a start.

PRO RUGBY

What about PRO Rugby? As reported here earlier, there’s just too much going on right now for Canada to commit to anything, but Dixon (and presumably Crowley) will be headed south for more discussions with the new organization in January. An interesting comment was that they wanted to make sure their players were a “high performance environment”, i.e. professional does not necessarily mean high performance. A subtle dig at some second tier European clubs perhaps?