Today, Rugby Canada Chief Executive Officer Graham Brown issued the following statement:

“On behalf of Rugby Canada and all rugby supporters in Canada I want to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family  and friends of Rowan Stringer.

Now is the time for all of us to come together and support the Stringer family as they deal with this terrible loss.

“We will provide updates on how the Canadian rugby community can support the Stringers.”

EORU AGM & PLANNING MEETING

 January 12, 2013

WHERE: 

Amnesty International

312 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa

 WHEN:

9:00 – 9:45  Junior Boys and Junior Girls – Break out planning sessions (2 separate sessions)

9:45 – 10:30  EORU Men and Women -  Break out planning sessions (2 separate sessions)

11:00 – 1:00  AGM

WHY:

Because it is your opportnity to help plan for 2013.  If you are not there then we hope you enjoy the season we plan for you.

In the planning session we hope to set the structure of the league as well as start/finish dates, day of the week for play and time of the day.

The ECCT is a new competition founded by, and featuring four of, Eastern Canada’s most -storied rugby clubs; the Loyalists (NB), the Ottawa Irish (ON), Swilers (NL) and Ste- Anne- De- Bellevue (QC). The purpose of this new annual tournament is to expose the clubs and their players to on-going competition at a higher level and perhaps Eastern Canadian bragging rights.

This year’s ECCT will be played at the Swilers’ Complex in St. John’s. Games will be of 50 minutes duration, each team will play 3 games and the team with the best record at the end of the competition on Sunday will be the champion. The winners will receive the freshly minted Al Charron Cup.

Charron who plans on attending the ECCT, and presenting the cup, had this to say, “I have not had the opportunity to watch as much rugby as I would have liked this past year especially at the club level so I am very much looking forward to seeing these four traditionally strong eastern Canadian clubs vie in the inaugural Eastern Canada Club tournament for a trophy that I am honoured to have bare my name. I am expecting some good, hard and exciting rugby in the friendly confines of St. John’s, Newfoundland.”

The ECCT schedule is as follows:

Friday, October 12th
3pm Ottawa Irish v Ste-Anne-De-Bellevue
4:15pm Swilers v Loyalists

Saturday, October 13th
2pm Ottawa Irish v Loyalists
3:15pm Swilers v Ste-Anne-De-Bellevue

Sunday, October 14th
1pm Loyalists v Ste-Anne-De-Bellevue
2:15pm Swilers v Ottawa Irish

Again all games will be played at the Swilers’ Rugby Complex 100 Crosbie Rd in St. John’s www.swilersrfc.com.

Both EORU Junior mens team defeated New Brunswick in the finals at Eastern Canadian Championship held in Truro, Nova Scotia this past weekend.  We will await a more detailed review including the team rosters but the U18 were down 7 -0 at the half of the finals but came back strong with a 17 to 7 win. The U16 were up 14 to 0 at the half in their final and kept the second scoreless to maintain a 14 to 0 win.

Round Robin Scores

U18

NB 0 – EORU 5

NF 3 – EORU 7

NS 5- EORU 55

PEI 0 EORU 10

U 16

NB 13 – EORU 0

NF 15 – EORU 24

NS 0 – EORU 6

PEi 5 – EORU 22

The two teams only suffered only one loss all weekend which is a testament to the hard work of all the players, their parents and all the EORU junior club coaches.

The EORU coaches would like thank Wanda Butler (Tour Manager), Tony Revitt (Physiotherapist at Carleton Sports Medicine) and Mike Donaldson (EORU Jr. Men Manager) who took care of everything behind the scenes and let the coaches focus on the players and the task at hand.

The EORU Executive would like to thank Danny Leeson, Patrick Thompson, Sam Laggis and Todd Fortier for their time and dedication coaching these fine athletes.  We are all very aware how much time and effort it takes to make this happen. And year and year you make EORU proud.

On a Sunny Spring Sunday, 40 players attended the inaugural session for the Voyageurs senior men`s program.  After an introduction from the coaching staff, the players were divided into 2 teams,(blue and green), for a trial match comprising 4 x 20 minute quaters.

You are invited !!

$215  8 – 10 years old

A complete list of day camps is available at http://www.dovercourt.org/storage/Dovercourt-Camp2012_guide.pdf. To learn more about the Dovercourt Recreation Centre and their day camps, please visit http://www.dovercourt.org/ or call 613-798-8950.

Canada’s men’s and women’s rugby teams will compete in Ottawa when they try to punch their tickets to the Rugby World Championships Sevens in Russia.

Rugby Canada announced on Wednesday that the North American Caribbean Rugby Association 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens Qualifier Tournament will be held at the Twin Rugby Park in Nepean Aug 25 and 26.

“We are really excited; one, to have the opportunity to host in Canada and to bring an event to Ottawa,” said Rugby Canada C.E.O. Graham Brown. “The Ottawa rugby community over the years has hosted many international events at Twin Elm Rugby Park, a fantastic rugby facility. The Ottawa rugby community always gets behind its players.”

The two-day qualifying tournament will see the top two teams in the men’s division advance to the Rugby World Cup Sevens Finals, which will be held in Moscow in 2013. Only the top women’s team will move on.

Rugby Sevens is a variation of the original sport, with teams made up of seven players instead of the usual 15. A game consists of two seven-minute halves instead of the traditional 45 and only three player scrums are allowed instead of eight. These changes make for a much faster and intense game.

This will not be the first international rugby event in the nation’s capital, however this time around the results will have Olympic implications.

In 2010, the IOC announced that Rugby Sevens would debut as a Summer Olympics sport at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With the addition of Rugby Sevens to the Olympics, tournaments such as the NACRA World Cup Sevens Qualifier are receiving increased international attention and have become a key stepping stone for Canada.

“Canada will definitely have a chance to qualify for the Olympics,” said Gareth Rees, the national men’s program manager. “This is the first step starting out here in Ottawa, then heading out to Moscow.”

Canada will be a heavy favourite heading into the men’s tournament. Canada is not guaranteed anything, however, and will face stiff challenges from the United States and from six-time Caribbean champion Guyana.

Other teams participating include Bermuda, Bahamas, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

On the women’s side, No. 1-ranked Canada will face competition from the likes of Guyana, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Mexico, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the current leading Caribbean women’s team, Trinidad & Tobago. The U.S. women’s team has already qualified for the finals due to its performance at the previous Rugby World Championship Sevens in Dubai.

“Both of our teams are heading into the tournament as favourites, so we should get some good Canadian wins,” Rees said

“This is a very positive development for rugby in our region,” said Dr. Pat Parfrey, Director of Rugby for the Atlantic Rock and one of the organizers of the event. “To get these top clubs together annually for top flight club competition is a great opportunity for our players and supporters alike.”

The first tournament will take place in St. John’s, Newfoundland at the Swilers Rugby Complex from October 12 – 14, 2012. It will be a round-robin format with the winner determined based on record and points total. All teams will play three games.

The Ottawa Irish Rugby Club will donate the hardware for the tournament. Al Charron was a long-time great Ottawa Irish star, is one of Canada’s most capped and well known rugby players. Charron participated in 5 Rugby World Cups, 4 as a player and 1 as a member of the management team. Charron has always been a huge proponent of a strong club system in Canada.

“Al Charron is one of the best players to come out of Canada let alone Eastern Canada, to compete for a trophy named in his honor will motivate us all,” said Simon Pacey former Canadian National Team member and Fredericton Loyalist player. “We can’t wait to get to St. John’s and get this tournament going.”

Further details concerning match times and other activities related to the tournament will be released closer to the start of the competition.

For More Information:

Dr. Pat Parfrey  – pparfrey@mun.ca

Sean Gillespie (Swilers) – seangillespie@nf.sympatico.ca

Simon Pacey (Loyalists) – simon_pacey@skillsoft.com

Matt Stephens (Ste. Anne’s) – mathewstephens@sympatico.ca

Tim Powers (Irish) – tpowers@summa.ca

Jon Nadler has started at prop and is sure to have racked up a lot of experience, especially against the Leicester Tigers Academy, a club renowned for excellent scrummaging.

“Leicester was a team with the highest level of skill that I’ve ever played against. It’s definitely where I’d like to get to as a rugby player,” stated Nadler.

Nadler also had the honour of scoring Canada’s first try on tour against Welbeck 6th Form Military College in the team’s 29-0 victory.

Matt Heaton has been showing his versatility by starting in the 2nd row. The ability to play any of the back 5 positions as a forward is an asset to any selector and a point that is not lost on Heaton, who usually plays openside flanker.

“I’m enjoying the experience immensely. The games have been fast paced with a lot of skill on show. The Leicester team set the bench mark for where we’d like to be,” said Heaton.

Canada’s U19 team wraps up their tour of the UK with a game against Northampton Saints Academy, which will surely be another tough assignment and an amazing experience at the same time.