Canada Rugby News

BORDEAUX, France _ Canada faces Japan at the Rugby World Cup on Tuesday with only pride at stake _ and the chance to preserve its record of having won at least once at every World Cup it has contested. ``I read that this morning,'' Japan's coach John Kirwan said of Canada's record. ``Like I said yesterday, they are a proud nation and a good rugby country.'' Canada and Japan have both been eliminated from Pool B, but ...

Italy's national rugby team proved too much for Canada on Saturday. The 12th-ranked Italians defeated Canada 41-6, dominating the Canadians with a strong second half. Fly half Ander Monro kicked two first-half penalties for the 13th-ranked Canadians, who trailed 13-6 at halftime. ``Canada played really well in the first half, and then we had a guy (Forrest Gainer) sent off the field for a yellow card, and that put a lot of pressure on us,'' said Canadian head ...

Italy is ranked just one spot above Canada by the International Rugby Board, but in reality the two teams are worlds apart. Italy is a fully professional squad, while Canada's domestic-based players are all amateur. The Italians play tough top-10 opposition annually in the Six Nations tournament, even if they rarely win. And Italy seems to have fewer problems freeing up its top players from European clubs for international duty. ...

David Moonlight of Whitby, Ont., was named Rugby Canada's sevens player of the year Thursday. Moonlight became Canada's leading try-scorer in the seven-man game this past season when he boosted his career total to 83. He recorded 29 tries on the sevens circuit in 2005-06. Moonlight also captained the team at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, earlier this year. Moonlight was selected by Rugby Canada officials and Canadian coach ...

Wales coach Gareth Jenkins brought in Gareth Thomas at fullback Tuesday and named him captain for the rugby Test against Canada on Friday. Jenkins had made 14 changes from the team that drew 29-29 with Australia on Nov. 4 when it beat the Pacific Islanders 38-20 Saturday. Wales and Canada are in the same pool at next year's World Cup in France. Thomas takes over from prop Duncan Jones as ...

France won the bronze medal at the women's Rugby World Cup with a 17-8 win over host Canada at Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday. The Canadians finished fourth for the third straight time in the tournament. They lost to France in the third-place game four years ago in Barcelona. Two-time defending champion New Zealand and England were to meet in the final. France led 10-0 in the second half before a ...

Canada will be playing for bronze at the Women's Rugby World Cup despite pushing England to the limit in a narrow 20-14 loss on Tuesday in Edmonton. England had outscored Canada 234-41 in the four previous World Cup matches between the two nations including a 53-10 victory in the same second versus third semifinal in Barcelona in 2002. But the Canadian side proved that was then and this is now ...

The McGill women's rugby team extended its nine-year undefeated streak to 55 games by blanking Bishop's 55-0 in its season opener Sunday. Centre Laura Belvedere of Chatham, Que., accounted for 20 points for McGill, 54-0-1 in regular-season play during the streak. McGill was up 77-0 on the scoreboard when the game was officially called five minutes into the second half, with the official score listed as 55-0, because of a ...

Heather Moyse scored four tries as Canada trounced Kazakhstan 44-5 Friday at the Women's Rugby World Cup. The win improved Canada's record to 2-1, but the Canadian women had to wait for later results Friday to find out whether they would advance to the semifinals. Canada had needed to secure five points from the game: four for the win and a bonus point for scoring more than four tries. It did that, but needed help from other ...

Canada needs a big win over Kazakhstan and some help from other teams Friday if it hopes to make the semifinals of the Women's Rugby World Cup in Edmonton. The Canadian women (1-1-0) are currently tied with Australia and the U.S. (also 1-1-0) with five points. New Zealand, France and Scotland (all 2-0-0) have 10 points while England (2-0-0) has nine. Bonus points will probably decide who makes the final ...

Mario Gallo scored five tries as Canada hammered Spain 79-0 Monday at the Women's Rugby World Cup. The lopsided win comes after Canada was thrashed 66-7 by two-time defending champion New Zealand last Thursday. Canada led 29-0 at the half. The Canadians evens their record to 1-1, while Spain falls to 0-2. Canada plays Kazakhstan on Friday.