Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Rugby World Cup 2023 is to be the first Men’s Rugby World Cup without Canada. The North Americans competed at every RWC from 1987-2019. They missed out on the opportunity of qualifying for RWC 2023 after losing on aggregate to the USA in the North American finals and subsequently losing to Chile in the North American vs South American runners-up series.
It was all decided in Valparaíso. Chile rebounded from a 22-21 defeat in Langford to outperform Canada on home soil. The 33-24 scoreline gave Chile the biggest win of their history and eliminated Canada from the RWC 2023 qualifiers.
Defeat for Canada saw their constant record at RWCs ended. As recently as RWC 2015, Canada was competing well against Tier 1 opponent at a RWC. Canada went very close to producing an upset win over Italy in Leeds, England. That near miss has come to be overlooked due to Canada losing from a dominant position in their final match of that tournament against Romania.
Four years on in Japan, Canada missed out on facing Namibia due to Typhoon Hagibis. The cancelation meant that the tournament ended for both Canada and Namibia a match short. The fixture had been identified by most as Canada’s vital match of the tournament; it was a fixture wherein the North Americans were in with a very solid opportunity of winning.
Canada performed well in the inaugural Rugby World Cup. Canada played in Pool B of the 1987 tournament. The group was difficujlt as the North Americans faced Ireland, Tonga, and Wales. Canada came away with a good overall performance. It was highlighted by an impressive win over Tonga.
History was made four years later; Canada reached the knock-out stages of the second RWC. Before being eliminated after losing 29-13 to New Zealand in a Quarter Final, Canada had won two pool matches. Canada defeated Fiji 13-3 in Bayonne, France and defeated Romania 19-11 in Toulouse, France.
RWC 1995 saw Canada facing RWC 1991 winners Australia and RWC 1995 winners South Africa in the same pool. With only two advancing, it was very much a case of the luck of the draw. The competitive Canadian team of the time may well have reached the Quarter Finals had they been in a different pool. Canada was the best team from the Americas at the time. Their RWC 1995 campaign included a win over Romania.
Canada pushed France close in RWC 1999. In their first match of the tournament, Canada were leading against Les Bleus in Bézier, France. The home side rebounded to win 33-20. Canada was then beaten by Fiji before closing out the campaign with their biggest win in a RWC, a 72-11 win over Namibia.
RWC 2003 saw Canada up against Italy, New Zealand, Tonga, and Wales. The challenging pool saw Canada targetting their matches against Italy and Wales. The return was a 1-1, though it was nearly two wins. The North Americans fell to a 19-14 loss against Italy in Canberra and defeated Tonga 24-7 in Wollongong.
The Canadians were also close to coming away with two wins at RWC 2007. Canada were close to defeating Fiji; the 29-16 final score does not do justice to the match. Canada were also disappointed to miss out against Japan. The Asian country snatched a 12-12 draw in overtime.
History repeated itself four years later; Canada and Japan again competed to a draw in a Rugby World Cup pool match. Prior to the 23-23 draw against Japan, Canada had started well with a 25-20 win against Tonga and a competitive performance in a losing effort against France.
