Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The Canadian Rugby Championship has announced their schedule for the 2017 season and it is not a long read. A major shortfall in funding has seen the regional competition reduced to just eight games in total, with each team playing just one game before a three-match tournament in Calgary in a format similar to the abbreviated schedule used in 2015 prior to the Rugby World Cup. The loss of two major revenue sources – title sponsors Johnsonville and World Rugby – has left Rugby Canada with limited financial resources to fund the program.
Such a limited schedule leaves a gaping hole in the domestic calendar and severely cripples the player pathway to international rugby, problems that have become sorely evident in the wake of Canada’s loss to Uruguay on the weekend. How the problems are addressed moving forward has yet to be seen, with the individual teams now forced to find additional fixtures on their own to supplement a virtually nonexistent 2017 regular season.
2017 CANADIAN RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP
July 14 – BC Bears vs Prairie Wolf Pack (Vancouver)
July 22 – Atlantic Rock vs Ontario Blues (Truro)
August 13 – Prairie Wolf Pack vs Ontario Blues (Calgary)
August 13 – BC Bears vs Atlantic Rock (Calgary)
August 16 – BC Bears vs Ontario Blues (Calgary)
August 16 – Prairie Wolf Pack vs Atlantic Rock (Calgary)
August 19 – 3rd Place vs 4th Place
August 19 – 1st Place vs 2nd Place
