BC Place Stadium will host its first test match in June
Canada welcomes Japan as part of summer series
TORONTO — Buoyed by the interest in next week’s World Sevens Series event in Vancouver, Canada will host Japan in a first-ever rugby test match at BC Place Stadium on June 11.
The 10th-ranked Japanese were the surprise package of last fall’s World Cup where they upset South Africa. Japan is slated to host the 2019 tournament.
The Canadian men, ranked 19th in the world, will host No. 18 Russia at Calgary Rugby Park on June 18 and No. 14 Italy at Toronto’s BMO Field on June 26 to complete Rugby Canada’s summer series.
Canada has held test matches at Swangard Stadium in suburban Burnaby and UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver, but not at BC Place. The installation of new turf in advance of last summer’s Women’s World Cup of soccer and the ticket sales for the March 12-13 rugby sevens tournament — organizers say the sevens event is a sellout, with 56,000 tickets sold over the two days — have combined to make BC Place an attractive venue.
“We know we need to go to the next level and this allows us to do that,” Gareth Rees, Rugby Canada’s director of commercial and program relations, said of playing at BC Place. “I think it’s great news. It’s still a big challenge for us, as it was with the Canada Sevens, a big challenge to sell it out. But we’ve got to get to work. It’s a good opportunity.”
With November a popular month for test matches, being able to hold a game in a venue with a roof is also a plus.
As for playing on turf, Canada has hosted Americas Rugby Championship test matches on the artificial surface at its Centre of Excellence in Langford outside of Victoria. While natural grass remains the standard in the sport, playing on sanctioned turf is permitted under World Rugby regulations.
English club side Saracens and rugby league’s Widnes both play on artificial turf. And the World Sevens Series stop in Las Vegas, like Vancouver, is played on turf.
“We just walked the field at Sam Boyd Stadium at UNLV and it’s beautiful,” Rees said from Las Vegas. “It’s a fast surface, it’s clean.”
Rees also noted that many teams train on turf and that the surface at Twickenham and Millennium Stadium, home to the England and Wales rugby teams, are hybrid surfaces.
“I don’t really think it’s much of an issue because the technology is so strong. ... It’s probably new rather than rare, I would say,” he said. “Probably the way of the future. If you can play a Women’s World Cup soccer final on it, then I think it’s going to be OK for rugby.”
The Calgary test match will be the first for the city since 2005. BMO Field, meanwhile, hosts a test for the sixth straight year.
Canada has not beaten Japan since a 15-10 win in Tokyo in May 2005. Japan leads the all-time series 14-8-2, although the teams played to 12-12 and 20-20 draws at the 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cup, respectively.
Canada has never lost to Russia, with a 3-0-0 career mark.
Italy has won the last five meetings with Canada, including a 25-16 victory at BMO Field in June 2012. The two have met eight times since their inaugural clash in 1983 with Canada winning twice.
Tickets for all three games go on sale March 10.