Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Rugby Canada has laid out the road map to the last-chance World Cup Qualifiers to be held in France, in November. Canada will play in the round-robin Repechage tournament against three other nations with the winner qualifying as the 20th – and final – participant in RWC 2019.
November’s tournament was confirmed today by World Rugby to take place in its entirety at the Stade Pierre Delort, a 5,000-seat stadium in the city of Marseille on the South-West coast. The matches will take place on November 11, 17, and 23.
Canada’s place comes by virtue of losing the Americas 2 RWC qualifying series against Uruguay earlier this year. Los Teros won both in Vancouver and Montevideo to claim their spot in the World Cup, the first time they have done so in back-to-back tournaments.
For Canada the series loss sent the North Americans into uncharted waters. In order to maintain the proud record of appearing in all previous World Cup tournaments they must now win the Repechage in Marseille with little room for error.
Their opponents are currently being finalized. This past weekend saw Hong Kong overcoming the Cook Islands to book their ticket to France. One further competitor will be determined this weekend when Germany host Samoa. The Pacific Islanders won the opening match 66-15. If Germany cannot overcome the 51-point deficit they will be confirmed as the third participant in the Repechage.
The fourth spot will go to Africa 2, to be decided in the ongoing Gold Cup competition. Current leaders Namibia are well-placed to qualify for a 6th consecutive World Cup. Their biggest challenger is Kenya, with their match on August 18 almost certainly a winner-take-all match with a direct flight to Japan on offer, a less desirable trip to France going to the loser.
Canada’s road to Marseille is to combine international competition with a domestic training regime. This will begin on July 9 with all centralized players training at the Al Charron Rugby Canada National Training Centre in Langford. Players will then prepare with their respective regional sides for the 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship.
The initial stage of the CRC will run from July 27 to August 7 with centralized players set to feature in three of the first four games before departing on a two-match tour to France. There they will face defending Top 14 champions Castres on August 11 and 2017 champions Clermont Auvergne on August 17.
Upon returning from France they will return to regional duty for the CRC finals from August 23-26 in Calgary, before returning to Langford for a month-long training camp in Langford. During September it is also anticipated that some will represent the Ontario Arrows against high caliber opposition in Toronto.
The Americas Pacific Challenge will again be hosted in Uruguay with Canada ‘A’ to play three games from October 6-14. While normally a development competition, Canada are intending to send their strongest available side to this competition in preparation for the all-important Qualifiers in November.
