Canada national rugby league team

Canada
Badge of Canada team
Team information
Nickname Wolverines
Governing body Canada Rugby League
Region Americas
Head coach Benjamin Fleming
Captain Matt Wyles
Home stadium Lamport Stadium
RLIF ranking 17th
Uniforms
First colours
Second colours
Team results
First international
 Canada 23–10 United States 
(1987)
Biggest win
 Canada 52–14 United States 
(2014)
Biggest defeat
England Lions 68–4 Canada 
(2012)

The Canada national rugby league team represents Canada in international rugby league football tournaments.

History

1987–2000: Origins

Rugby league was first introduced to Canada in the 1900s but was quickly outlawed by Rugby Union officials and thus became Canadian Football. It wasn't until the late 1980s that rugby league was re-introduced to Canada at an amateur level, when a short-lived 4-team domestic competition, known as the Tri-Counties Rugby League, was established. Four teams competed in its first year, three in Canada and one in the U.S., the New York-based Adirondacks club.[1]

The Canadian national team played their first game in 1987 against the USA. They then played sporadically throughout the 1990s and participated in the 1995 and '96 World Sevens and Emerging Nations World Cup in 2000. Following the 2000 Emerging Nations World Cup, the Canadian Rugby League Federation folded. As a result, the national team was disbanded and the sport remained dormant for 10 years.

2010 onwards: Revival

The briefly used "Mounties" 2010 logo

In 2010, a new governing body, Canada Rugby League, was formed. Their first comeback game was in 2010 in the War at the Shore tournament, where they played New England Immortals, a New England representative team, and the New York Knights AMNRL club team, losing both games.[2] The teams international comeback was later in the year in September in the inaugural Colonial Cup.[3] Later that year they competed in the Rugby League Atlantic Cup in Jacksonville, Florida.

Canadas first win since they were reformed came the following year in 2011 against Jamaica. They collected their second win in September, against the USA in the second game of the Colonial Cup. However, due to an earlier loss to the USA and the resulting aggregate scores ment Canada were unable to win the Cup. Canada's international season finished up with a defeat against South Africa, for a warm up game before their 2013 World Cup qualifiers campaign.

In 2014, Stuart Donlan was appointed as head coach.[4] Donlan's first game was the 2014 Colonial Cup's only fixture. He coached Canada to a famous victory which made them the Colonial Cup champions for the very first time.[5] Despite Donlan's success, Aaron Zimmerle, the head coach of the Tweed Heads Seagulls, took over the main coaching role in 2015 in their 2017 World Cup qualifying campaign.[6]

After failing to qualify for the 2017 World Cup, the Canada Rugby League Board appointed Benjamin Fleming as coach on a three-year deal. Canada Rugby League Association Vice President David Graham said "the board's decision to appoint Fleming as Head Coach was based on the hard work and passion he has shown since returning to the association last year."

Current squad

The following players were called up to play for the Canada national team for the 2015 Colonial Cup first test against the United States.[7]

  • Eric Moyer of the Brantford Broncos was named as the 18th man and will provide as backup for any injuries or suspensions that might occur before the first game begins.
Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Pts. Club
FB Robin Legault Canada Toronto Centurions
WG Billy Gemmell Canada Brantford Broncos
CE Christian Miller Canada Brantford Broncos
CE Denny McCarthy Canada Oakville Crusaders
SO Matt Wyles Canada Toronto Centurions
SH Steve Piatek Canada Brantford Broncos
PR Antoine Blanc Canada Toronto City Saints
HK Trent Bourke Australia Jamberoo Superoos
SR Erick Alverado Canada Brantford Broncos
SR Enoch Wamalwa Canada Toronto City Saints
LF Joey Murphy Australia Jamberoo Superoos
CE Jonathan Cregg Canada Toronto Centurions
PR Jason Locke Canada Toronto Centurions
SO Alan Lafferty Canada Brantford Broncos
Eddie Bilborough Canada Toronto City Saints
JT Robothaham Canada Toronto Centurions
Max Smillie Canada Toronto Centurions

Competitive Record

Results overview

Against Played Won Lost Drawn % Won
 France10100%
 Italy10100%
 Jamaica541080%
 Japan211050%
 United States22517023%
 South Africa10100%
 Lebanon1100100%
 England Lionhearts20200%
 Royal Air Force20200%
Total371126031%

The following tournaments is a list of notable international competitions that Canada has been competing in since their existence in 1987.

World Cup

World Cup Record
Year Round Position Pld Win Draw Loss
France 1954 Did not enter
Australia 1957
England 1960
Australia New Zealand 1968
England 1970
France 1972
United Nations 1975
Australia New Zealand 1977
United Nations 1985–88
United Nations 1989–92
England 1995
United Kingdom Ireland France 2000 Did not qualify
Australia 2008
England Wales 2013
Australia New Zealand Papua New Guinea 2017
England 2021 TBD
United States Canada 2025 Qualified

Colonial Cup

Colonial Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
Canada 2010Second place2/21010
Canada United States 2011Second place2/22110
United States Canada 2012Second place2/22020
Canada United States 2013Second place2/24130
Canada 2014Champions1/21100
United States 2015Champions1/23210
Total2 Titles6/613580

Caribbean Carnival Cup

  • The Caribbean Carnival Cup is annual series that has been played between Canada and Jamaica since 2011.
Caribbean Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
Canada 2011Champions1/21100
Canada 2012Champions1/21100
Canada 2013Champions1/21100
Canada 2014Champions1/21100
Total4 Titles4/44400

Atlantic Cup

Atlantic Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
United States 2009Not Invited
United States 2010Second place2/32110
Total0 Titles1/22110

Rankings

Official Rankings as of July 2018
RankChange*TeamPts%
1 Steady Australia100.0
2 Steady New Zealand72.7
3 Steady England70.4
4 Steady Tonga28.0
5 Steady Fiji25.8
6 Steady Samoa25.5
7 Steady Scotland24.5
8 Steady France18.3
9 Steady Lebanon13.9
10 Steady Papua New Guinea12.4
11 Steady Ireland10.6
12 Steady Wales8.0
13 Steady Italy7.4
14 Steady United States7.1
15 Steady Jamaica5.2
16 Increase 1 Canada5.1
17 Decrease 1 Serbia4.4
18 Steady Malta3.8
19 Increase 3 Norway2.7
20 Decrease 1 Russia2.6
21 Increase 8 Hungary2.3
22 Decrease 1 Spain2.3
23 Decrease 3 Belgium2.3
24 Increase 2 Czech Republic2.2
25 Steady Ukraine2.1
26 Decrease 3 Greece1.9
27 Decrease 3 Philippines1.9
28 Decrease 1 Netherlands1.4
29 Increase 2 Sweden1.4
30 Decrease 2 Germany1.3
31 Decrease 1 Cook Islands1.3
32 Rise 3 South Africa1.3
33 Decrease 1 Chile1.2
34 Decrease 1 Niue1.1
35 Decrease 1 Denmark0.8
36 Steady Vanuatu0.8
37 Steady El Salvador0.7
38 Steady Thailand0.7
39 Steady Argentina0.6
40 Steady Colombia0.6
41 Steady Japan0.4
42 Steady Solomon Islands0.4
43 Steady Brazil0.3
44 Steady Uruguay0.3
45 Steady Hong Kong0.2
46 Steady Bulgaria0.1
47 Steady Latvia0.1
48 Steady Morocco0.0
*Change from December 2017

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.canadarugbyleague.com/history/index.php?pageid=100001
  2. ↑ Lester, Jamie (5 April 2010). "Canadian team to play in AMNRL 'War at the Shore'". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  3. ↑ O'Neill, Matthew (16 August 2010). "Canada to host USA in inaugural Colonial Cup". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  4. ↑ Stuart Donlan named head coach of Canada Wolverines
  5. ↑ http://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/rugby-league-nations/91-rugby-league-test-match-or-international-game/1853-canada-52-smack-usa-14-in-rugby-league-international
  6. ↑ "Canada announces Aaron Zimmerle as head coach for Qualifiers". CRL. 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
  7. ↑ "Canada name their squad to face the USA". rlif.com. 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
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