Rugby Canada to host Scottish squad in June
Despite their lowly World Rugby ranking, Canada continues to receive attention from tier one nations.
Friday, the Scottish Rugby Union confirmed their senior men’s team will tour the Americas this June, beginning with a match against Canada, in Canada, the weekend of June 8 to 10.
Rugby Canada hasn’t yet confirmed a location for the game, but it is understood that both BMO Field in Toronto and Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton are unavailable. That most likely leaves either Vancouver or Ottawa as host site.
Given that Vancouver is hosting next weekend’s Rugby World Cup qualifier between Canada and Uruguay, and that will be the second time Canada has played in Vancouver in less than a year, you wonder if Ottawa has the inside track to get this game, for two reasons: stadium availability and a risk of drying out the ticket sales well in Vancouver.
On the first point, if they were to play in Vancouver, they’d likely have to play the game on Sunday, June 10, as B.C. Place is hosting a B.C. Lions pre-season game on Friday. Or, of course, they could go back to Thunderbird Stadium or Swangard Stadium, but given the success they’ve been finding in hosting games in big stadiums, it’s hard to imagine that happening.
TD Place in Ottawa, on the other hand, is available, and rugby people in the know in Ottawa say it’s on the verge of being certified to host rugby.
That ties in to point two. After a successful hosting last November of the Maori All Blacks (a crowd of over 30,000) and then the game against Uruguay (Rugby Canada is hoping to hit 15,000), would it really be smart to try for a third game at The Dome in less than eight months?
That’s without mentioning the success of the Canada Sevens. How much money do Vancouver fans really have for rugby?
Rugby Canada is always keen to spread their games around the country; if TD Place really does get World Rugby approval, it’s hard to see Rugby Canada not giving it a go. The more big stadiums they can push themselves into the better.
Good crowds in big stadiums also makes for a better case when trying to pull in top-tier teams like Scotland. The Scots currently are fifth on World Rugby’s rankings system, while Canada is 21st. A good run of form under new coach Kingsley Jones — after the game against Uruguay, his squad goes straight into Americas Rugby Championship action — would see the Canadians pull themselves back into the top 20.