Canada

Highlanders scrumhalf Fumiaki Tanaka is one of 25 players named by interim Japan coach Mark Hammett to travel to Canada for the one-off test at BC Place in Vancouver on June 11. A group of 9 players have been rested ahead of the two-match series against Scotland, with loose forwards …

Alexander Pervukhin has named a group of 30 players for the long journey from Moscow to the Americas. The team is set to depart overnight on June 12 with their first match set for June 18 in Calgary against Canada and second against the USA in Sacramento on June 25. …

Tickets to Rugby Sevens’ eagerly-awaited debut at the Olympic Games are now on sale. The abbreviated version of the game they play in heaven will see the sport back in the Olympics for the first time in 92 years. Back in Paris in 1924 it was the USA who won Olympic Gold. …

Canadian World Cup stars Stephanie Bernier and Marie-Pier Pinault-Reid have announced their retirement. Both scrumhalf Bernier and loosehead prop Pinault-Reid were named to the 2014 Women’s World Cup Dream Team for their outstanding contributions to Canada’s 2nd place finish. They also share the same home club – Club de Rugby …

The Emerald Isle is back on the schedule. Canada will send a domestic side to Ireland in August. Originally planned at the beginning of the year, the tour to Ireland was due to be shelved in favor of a Pacific competition, but with the unusual timing and Pacific sides already …

BC Bears coach Gabriel Fulcher has named his starting side to take on England Counties at Klahanie Park in West Vancouver on Friday. Americas Rugby Championship caps Liam Chisholm and Joe Dolesau headline a team that contains only seven returning players from last year’s entry in the Canadian Rugby Championship. …

England Counties have named 27 players take part in a three-match tour to Canada starting this weekend. The team is a select team chosen from the third tier of English rugby, one level below the Greene King IPA Championship. While the majority are not fully professional players, there are some …

Djustice Sears-Duru has inked a one-year contract with Glasgow Warriors. The Canadian prop joined the Guinness Pro 12 semi-finalists in March on a short-term deal until the end of the season. That move has now been made permanent, until at least the end of the 2016/17 season. The 22-year-old has …

PRO Rugby has been running a fan-driven team name competition for the past couple weeks and has now revealed shortlists for each of the five franchises. Evidently thousands of team names have been submitted, and while it’s not entirely clear what the process has been or who has decided which …

Mark Hammett has named a 33-strong training group for Japan’s final preparations for their one-off test at BC Place in Vancouver on June 11 and the two-match series against Scotland following. Injuries have ruled out captain Michael Leitch and fullback Ayumu Goromaru, while Hosea Saumaki’s eligibility request was, as expected, …