Rugby Canada
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the national governing body for CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
. For the article about rugby union in Canada, please see the article: Rugby union in CanadaRugby union in CanadaRugby union is a minority team sport in Canada; it is relatively strong as a participation sport, particularly in several hotspots like British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, but does not attract the same level of spectator support...
.
Rugby Canada, is the national governing body
Sport governing body
A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sport governing bodies come in various forms, and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the sport...
for the sport of rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
in Canada. Rugby Canada was incorporated in 1974, and stems from the Canadian Rugby Football Union, a body established in 1884 that now governs amateur Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
as Football Canada
Football Canada
Football Canada is the governing body for amateur Canadian football. It is Canada's representative member of the International Federation of American Football , the world's governing body for American football.-History:...
; and the now-defunct Rugby Union of Canada, established in 1929. Rugby Canada administers the Canada national rugby union team
Canada national rugby union team
The Canada national rugby union team represents Canada in international rugby union. They are governed by Rugby Canada, and play in red and black. Canada is classified by the International Rugby Board as a tier two rugby nation. There are ten tier one nations, and seven tier two nations, the...
and sanctions the Rugby Canada National Junior Championship
Rugby Canada National Junior Championship
The Rugby Canada National Junior Championship is a new amateur rugby union competition in Canada. The league was created when Rugby Canada decided to disband the Rugby Canada Super League and replace it with a new under-20 league. The league consists of 13 teams, and are broken up into 4...
, a national competition for under-20 men's teams. It previously sanctioned the Super League as the premier level of men's competition in the country, but scrapped that league after the Americas Rugby Championship
Americas Rugby Championship
The Americas Rugby Championship is a rugby union competition contested by national and regional teams from North and South America. The league has replaced the IRB's previous North American competition, the North America 4....
was created in 2009 as a two-stage competition in which the first involved only Canadian teams. It has also entered into a partnership with the Welsh Rugby Union
Welsh Rugby Union
The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...
by which the regional franchise RGC 1404, whose primary role is developing the sport in North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
, will have a secondary role of developing Canadian players for the national team.
Canadian Rugby Football Union
The Canadian Rugby Football Union was established in 1884 with the specific purpose of organizing play-off games between various union champions. Representatives from the Montreal (Rugby) Football club (now known as the Westmount Rugby ClubWestmount Rugby Club
The Westmount Rugby Club is a rugby club in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the oldest active rugby club in North America. The club was founded in 1876 under the title of Montreal Football Club, and played its matches at the McGill University grounds...
), the Toronto Rugby Football Club and from the Hamilton Rugby Football Club had meetings in Toronto and Montreal. It was decided that the union would continue to use the English rugby rules, and at the end of the season the winning club of the Quebec Championship would play the Ontario Champion for the Club Championship of the Dominion.
This organization (also known at different times as the Canadian Rugby Union) was the forerunner of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
, as rugby football
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
evolved into Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
with rugby union being known as English rugby. To make matters more confusing the word rugby continued to be applied to Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
. It was not until 1967 that the original CRU finally cleared up this confusion by renaming itself the Canadian Amateur Football Association; it adopted its current name of Football Canada
Football Canada
Football Canada is the governing body for amateur Canadian football. It is Canada's representative member of the International Federation of American Football , the world's governing body for American football.-History:...
in 1986.
Rugby Union of Canada
The Rugby Union of Canada, re-formed in 1965 as the Canadian Rugby Union with British Columbia’s Bob Spray as its first president. It was incorporated in 1974 and is affiliated to the International Rugby BoardInternational Rugby Board
The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...
(IRB). Since then, Rugby Canada, as it is known, has been a permanent fixture on the global rugby scene, including trips to each of the six IRB Rugby World Cups (the first of which was 1987 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
).
As a regular in the IRB Sevens World Series
IRB Sevens World Series
The IRB Sevens World Series, known officially as the HSBC Sevens World Series as of the 2010-11 season, through sponsorship from banking group HSBC, and also sometimes called the World Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby union sevens tournaments organised for the first time in the...
, Canada continues to climb the world rankings.
Provincial Rugby Unions in Canada
- British Columbia Rugby UnionBritish Columbia Rugby UnionThe British Columbia Rugby Union is the provincial administrative body for rugby union in British Columbia. The BCRU consists of nine sub-unions and 65 clubs. It was originally organized in New Westminster in 1889 where Alfred St...
- Fraser Valley Rugby UnionFraser Valley Rugby UnionThe Fraser Valley Rugby Union is the administrative body for rugby union in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. The FVRU currently consists of 10 rugby clubs.The Fraser Valley senior men's representative team is known as the Venom....
- Vancouver Rugby UnionVancouver Rugby UnionThe Vancouver Rugby Union is the administrative body for rugby union in Vancouver. The VRU currently consists of 20 rugby clubs.-List of Clubs in VRU:* Bayside Sharks* Britannia Lions RFC* Burnaby Lake Rugby Club* Capilano RFC* Gibsons RAC...
- Fraser Valley Rugby Union
- New Brunswick Rugby Union
- Newfoundland Rugby Union
- Ontario Rugby UnionOntario Rugby UnionThe Ontario Rugby Union is the provincial governing body for the sport of rugby union in the Canadian province of Ontario.There are currently 8 competitions which are sanctioned by the ORU:*Marshall Premiership*Keenan Division*Bardon Division...
- PEI Rugby Union
- Rugby AlbertaRugby AlbertaRugby Alberta is the provincial administrative body for rugby union in Alberta.-External links:*...
- Rugby Manitoba
- Rugby Nova Scotia
- Rugby QuebecRugby QuebecRugby Québec is the popular name of the Fédération de Rugby du Québec which is the provincial governing body for the sport of rugby union in the Canadian province of Québec. The Fédération de Rugby du Québec is affiliated with the Canadian Rugby Union.The Fédération de Rugby du Québec origins are...
- Saskatchewan Rugby Union
See also
- Rugby union in CanadaRugby union in CanadaRugby union is a minority team sport in Canada; it is relatively strong as a participation sport, particularly in several hotspots like British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, but does not attract the same level of spectator support...
- Canada national rugby union teamCanada national rugby union teamThe Canada national rugby union team represents Canada in international rugby union. They are governed by Rugby Canada, and play in red and black. Canada is classified by the International Rugby Board as a tier two rugby nation. There are ten tier one nations, and seven tier two nations, the...
- Rugby Canada Super League
- RGC 1404
- Football CanadaFootball CanadaFootball Canada is the governing body for amateur Canadian football. It is Canada's representative member of the International Federation of American Football , the world's governing body for American football.-History:...
- Grey CupGrey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...