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Canada and the USA played out a class on Saturday. The teams competed to a 28-28 draw in the first of two Rugby World Cup qualifiers. With neither side scoring more points than the opponent the return fixture is now a winner-takes-all opportunity.
Game one was played in Hamilton, Ontario. The public responded well as a crowd of 13,187 were in attendance. An indication of the success of the fixture can be seen when considering 13,125 attended Canada vs Italy in the stronger market of Toronto in 2006.
Saturday’s paying crowd marked a record for Hamilton, Ontario. By Canadian standards it was also a resounding success. Home attendances at Toronto’s BMO Field for tests vs Japan and the USA ranged from 10,207 to 11,200 from 2011-2015.
BMO Field has the official Canadian record for a capped international. There were 20,396 for Canada vs Ireland in June 2013. 22,566 attended a non-capped match against the Maori All Blacks later that year.
Outside of Toronto Edmonton, Alberta has the second highest recorded attendance. There was a crowd of 15,000 for Canada vs USA in 2005. Last year’s home match vs Japan had 10,250 supporters at BC Place in Vancouver. The Canada Sevens had 60,418 supporters for the two-day went in 2016. This year there were 38,058 per day, or 76,116 in total at BC Place.
No record will be set in San Diego on Sunday. The Californian city will host game two of the qualifying series on July 1.
For a complete match report from Hamilton click here.
