Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Rugby Canada have officially confirmed a match against the New Zealand Māori on Friday, November 3. It will be the second XV-a-side game to take place at Vancouver’s BC Place, following in the footsteps of the June 2016 test against Japan and, of course, two highly successful HSBC Sevens Series events. The Maori last visited Canada in November 2013, when they came away on the good side of a 40-15 result at BMO Field in Toronto.
The match will begin a four-game series for the Canadians in November, though with the date falling outside the official World Rugby test window it appears unlikely that the team will have full access to their overseas professionals in Vancouver. While this is not an ideal situation in terms of competitiveness, the Māori match does not count towards official World Rugby Rankings.
While Rugby Canada officials stated in March that they were expecting to play Georgia, Tonga, and Russia on their European tour, those plans appear to have been significantly altered. Tonga are now to play the Barbarians, Japan, and Romania while Russia are set to join an international tournament in Hong Kong alongside Chile.
Spanish officials are expecting Canada to arrive on November 18 following their November 11 match against Brazil, while Fiji have confirmed they will end their November tour against the Canadians in a neutral venue. The Georgia match appears to be going ahead, however, with a November 11 date in Tbilisi now awaiting public recognition from either union.
