Canada v Fiji – September 2026
Meehan Names Match 23 for Pacific Nations Opener Against Fiji
Canada take on Fiji on Saturday, the match kicks off Friday at midnight on the west coast as the match is being played in Japan as part of the Pacific Nations Cup. Canada lost to Fiji 63-10 last year in the Pacific Nations Cup, that -53 loss followed a -42 loss to Japan last year. This year Canada lost to Japan by -45, so expectations may not be high going into Saturday’s match. The good news compared to last year’s match against Fiji, Rumball and LeSage are back in the roster, the bad news Keith and Martinez, the starting props are missing, Piers Von Dadelszen is missing in the second row, Matt Oworu missing from loose forwards, Noah Flesch missing from centres, Nic Benn and Josiah Morra missing from the wings.
BC Premier Schedule 2026-27
Men’s Premier 2026-27 Schedule Posted – 21 Rounds, 11 Teams, 99 Matches
The BCRU have posted the 2026/27 schedules to PlayHQ, the new registration system. This is the schedule for the men’s Premier, there are 11 teams, 21 Rounds including bye weeks, each team plays 18 games, there are 99 matches in total. The season starts September 12, the winter break occurs between Round 11 on November 28th and Round 12 on January 16th, the regular season ends on April 10th.
During the season check the BCRU site for any last minute changes. We’ll also keep this post on the front page and updated with scores.
Men’s Div 1 Schedule 2026-27
Men’s Div 1 Schedule Posted – 21 Rounds, 19 Teams, 162 Matches
The men’s Division 1 has 19 teams entered, the second team from the 11 Premier sides plus 8 other teams, Nanaimo, Comox, Cowichan, Port Alberni on the Island and Squamish, Langley, Kelowna, Abbotsford from the Mainland.
The men’s Premier schedule is here. During the season check the BCRU site for any last minute changes. We’ll also keep this post on the front page and updated with scores.
BC Women’s Premier Schedule 2026-27
Women’s Premier 2026-27 Schedule Posted – 18 Rounds, 6 Core Teams Plus Seattle, 51 Matches
The women’s Premier starts September 26th. There are six core teams plus Seattle who play an exhibition schedule, they visit each of the core teams once during the season. The six core teams play a triple round robin with 3 games against each opponent. That works out to 45 matches plus the six exhibition matches for a 51 match schedule over 18 rounds.
Rugby Canada Signs Deal with Champ Rugby (Formerly RFU Championship) to Cover Relocation Costs for Canadian Players
Meehan Names Match 23 for Japan Clash on Saturday (Friday Evening in BC)
New CUMRC Format Means UVic or UBC Will Be Omitted from Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship for First Time - two most successful men's university programs in Canada but only one place at the tournament
Meehan Names 32 Player Squad for September Tests in Japan - 6 starters missing from Zimbabwe match, new skills coach
Canada v Scotland – September 2026
Canada Women Face Scotland on Saturday – Coach Rouet Names 23
Canada ranked #3 in the world visits #7 Scotland for a match on Saturday, kickoff is 8:10pm PT. Canada have gone with a 5/3 bench which includes Sophie de Goede as a reserve forward. Savannah Bauder is set to get her first XVs cap from the bench. Charity Williams gets her first cap as starting wing. The interim head coach for Scotland is David Butcher who was the Queen’s men’s XVs coach for six years, he was also used as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s national team programs. Previous to coming to Canada in 2015 he worked for the Scottish Rugby Union.
Canadian Coaches in the News
Lesley McKenzie, Canadian Coach from Fort Nelson BC, Named to Portugal Men’s Coaching Staff
Rugbypass.com published a story a few days ago that hasn’t had much exposure in Canada, Lesley McKenzie the Canadian coach from Fort Nelson, BC has been added to the Portugal men’s coaching staff. Formerly, she was in charge of the Japan women’s team for six years 2019-2025 and guided them through two world cups. She had 25 caps playing for Canada then coached UBC for five years. She went to NZ for three years as a development officer before going to Japan to start as assistant coach in 2018, and then head coach in 2019. Now she’s in Portugal getting professional experience in the men’s game. She’ll also be assistant coach of the Europe Super Cup side Lusitanos which plays out of Lisbon and is the feeder for the Portugal national team.
Champ Rugby – Tier 2 English Rugby
Rugby Canada Signs Deal with Champ Rugby (Formerly RFU Championship) to Cover Relocation Costs for Canadian Players
It used to be called the RFU Championship, now called Champ Rugby, the second tier of English rugby. Currently there are 14 teams, full list shown below, and there are currently a few Canadian internationals in the league [updated] Shane O’Leary (Nottingham), Dewald Kotze (Rotherham), Rob Povey (Rotherham). There will be more coming with the new agreement between the league and Rugby Canada. Rugby Canada “will support players’ relocation costs such as flights and visas”.
BCRU Updates – September 2026
John Tait Named as CEO of BC Rugby Union
The BCRU have finally chosen John Tait as the permanent CEO after two stints as interim CEO. Hopefully this provides some stability and direction to BC Rugby. I’ve lost track of all the CEO options the BCRU have tried over the last decade, none of them had a Canadian rugby background, or are memorable for what they accomplished in BC Rugby. Perhaps the best of the bunch was Jeff Sauve (2004-2013), he then went on to Field Hockey Canada and is now with Scouts Canada I believe. He at least had some understanding of Canadian rugby coming in, as he was with Rugby Canada in the marketing department previously. Then was Jim Dixon, back in Australia, Annabel Kehoe, back in Australia, and then David Newson from Semiahmoo Hockey, thinks he’s back with them, and Matthew Carter from Lotus F1, think he’s still operating his consulting company.
2026 FISU World University Championship Rugby Sevens
Canada Win Gold in FISU Tournament
The Canadian women’s university team have claimed the title as top Rugby 7s team in the world. They defeated Australia and France along the way to claim the title. Canada’s only loss was to Australia in the final pool match on Day 2. That result put them in the quarter-finals against host South Africa, they won that game 24-14 and earned a rematch with Australia in the semi-finals. Canada got their revenge for the pool loss with a 19-14 win over Australia, Canada then blanked France 20-0 in the Gold medal match. France won Silver, Japan Bronze, Australia were 4th, Ireland 5th, USA 6th. In the men’s competition host South Africa won Gold, Uganda Silver, Argentina Bronze.
BC Rugby Weekend of September 5th 2026
Two Important University Matches Kick Off the Season in BC: Men UBC v TWU and Women UVic v UBC – Friday Night UBC 66 – TWU 0; Saturday Vikes Women Dominate UBC
The BC Premier kicks off next weekend, and a chance to see what the rosters will look like for the new season but this weekend gives us a taste of things to come with two important university matches. For the men it’s a first look at UBC and TWU head to head, their game is on today at 6pm at the Ken Woods Field at UBC . TWU are hosting the university championships this year so have an automatic berth but UBC will have to battle UVic for the remaining one BC spot left. On the women’s side it’s the top two contenders for the women’s university title this year and they go head to head on Saturday at 1pm at Wallace Field.
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