POWER IN THE UNION?
Rugby union club will fight rugby league Wolfpack for attention
The Ontario Arrows will find out as they bring a different brand of rugby to a city already embracing the Wolfpack, S8
How much rugby is too much in Toronto?
The rugby league’s Toronto Wolfpack, who play the home opener of their sophomore season at Fletchers Field in Markham May 5, will have some competition down the road. The Ontario Arrows, a firstyear semi-pro rugby union outfit, will be playing at York Lions Stadium. Both matches are slated to kick off at 4:30 p.m., posing a dilemma for diehards hoping to watch in person.
The Arrows hope to join the U.S.-based Major League Rugby in 2019. And while the Wolfpack, who play much of their season in the U.K., built a loyal following last season, Arrows manager Mark Winokur says the market is nowhere near saturated.
The Wolfpack play 13-a-side rugby league, the Arrows — who open their home schedule Saturday at York — play rugby union, the 15-player version on display at the Rugby World Cup.
“It’s a different sport and a different model,” Winokur said. “Do we think we can get enough rugby union fans to support us? Yes. Do we think they can bring along some general sports fans? Yes. We have to build our fan base and go from there.”
Still, it’s not clear whether local sports fans are invested in the divide between league and union. Wolfpack executive Scott Lidbury said Wolfpack supporters groups travelled to Vancouver last month to cheer for Canada at an international rugby sevens tournament. He says Wolfpack fans and executives also plan to attend Satur- day’s Arrows game.
Lidbury said the Arrows’ presence is not so much a competition as an opportunity to grow rugby locally, regardless of which version of the sport is on the field.
“We want to establish Toronto as a centre of rugby excellence, and this just ties into that vision,” he said. “We’re all looking forward to the Arrows game to see what interpretation they bring to the game-day experience.”
The clubs are built differently, and have starkly different goals.
The Wolfpack loaded their lineup with veteran pros from overseas last season, steamrolling semi-pro foes to win a quick promotion from English rugby league’s third division. This season’s roster has no Canadians, but has added more high-profile talent from Australia, Samoa and Fiji.
The Arrows, meanwhile, feature just two non-Canadians and, according to Winokur, the team’s average age is less than 25.
This spring, the club is playing a seven-game schedule against Major League Rugby teams, hoping to prove their competitiveness to league officials and win inclusion in the circuit next season. Where MLR was founded to develop domestic talent for the U.S. national team, the Arrows intend to play a similar role in Canada, where a lack of pro opportunities is cited as a longstanding obstacle to national team success.
Men’s 15s head coach Kingsley Jones attended Wednesday’s Arrows practice and says a Toronto-based pro team will strengthen his program. Just not right away.
“I don’t think a few games against MLR competition is going to prepare players to win test matches in November, but it’s going to help,” Jones said. “It’ll take a little while, but it’s certainly bridging the gap be- tween amateur and test rugby.” The Arrows announced a player development partnership this week with the Hurricanes, a New Zealand-based club playing in Super Rugby, the world’s best pro rugby union circuit.
It also has a deal to broadcast matches on GAME TV, the same network that hosts the Wolfpack. In addition to TV, last Friday’s 24-20 win over the Utah Warriors was streamed live on Facebook.
While the final score pleased Winokur, MLR attendance figures impressed him even more. Utah drew 9,186 to a March 30 home game, while the Toronto match attracted nearly 5,000. Winokur said the low prices and fast-paced games that sell MLR tickets in Utah and Houston will endear the Arrows to sports fans in Toronto.
“The game’s not four hours and it doesn’t cost $1 million to go,” Winokur said. “Those are big selling points for us.”