Canada national rugby league team

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Canada
Badge of Canada team
Nickname Wolverines
Governing body Canada Rugby League
Region The Americas
Head coach Aaron Zimmerle
Captain Matt Wyles
Home stadium Lamport Stadium
RLIF ranking 13th
Colours
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

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1987-2000

Rugby league was re-introduced to Canada at an amateur level in the late 1980s and early 1990s, 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 one in the U.S., the New York-based Adirondacks club.[1]

The Canada rugby league team first participated in international competition in 1987. Canada participated in the World Sevens (1995, 1996) and Emerging Nations World Cup (2000) competitions, and competed in regular international matches until 2000, when the Canadian Rugby League Federation folded. As a result, the national team, which was nicknamed the "Cougars", was disbanded and the sport remained dormant for 10 years.

2010 onwards

The briefly used "Mounties" 2010 logo

In 2010, a new governing body, known as Canada Rugby League, was formed with the aim of redeveloping the sport amongst the resurgent international rugby league scene. The national team was re-established and briefly nicknamed the 'Mounties', Jamie Lester, the Acting President of Canada Rugby League said, "Like the Kiwis, Kangaroos and Kumuls being identifiable with the New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea rugby league teams, the Mounties nickname has been chosen to create the same effect for the Canadian team".[2] Rugby League Review, one of the leading rugby league magazines in the world, became the main shirt sponsor of the team.[3] The Mounties competed at the American National Rugby League's 2010 War at the Shore tournament.[4] There, Canada played New England Immortals, a New England representative team, and the New York Knights AMNRL club team, losing both games.[5] The team's nickname was changed to 'Wolverines' before the return of international rugby league to Canada in September 2010 with the inaugural Colonial Cup.[6] Later that year the Wolverines competed in the Rugby League Atlantic Cup in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Canadian Wolverines played the Jamaican national team on Sunday 31 July 2011 defeating the Jamaicans to secure Canada's first international victory of the revival era. They collected their second win in September, upsetting the USA in the second game of the Colonial Cup. However, due to an earlier loss to the Tomahawks and the resulting aggregate scores, the Wolverines were unable to capture the cup. Canada's international season finished up with a defeat against South Africa, who were in the Northern Hemisphere for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup qualifiers.

In 2014, the Wolverines named former Super League player, Stuart Donlan, as their new head coach.[7] Stuart'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.[8]

Despite Donlan's success, Aaron Zimmerle, the head coach of the Queensland Cup team Tweed Heads Seagulls, took over the main coaching role at the Wolverines helm in 2015 to coach Canada in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying campaign.[9]

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.[10]

  • 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

Other Representative Match

Tri-County XIII defeated Maracaibo Oilers Sports Club (Venezuela) 24-16 at Montreal (1986) (Maracaibo Oilers Sports Club were Venezuelan Rugby Union side on tour to Canada in 1986, and included a Rugby League 13-a-side match on their tour itinerary. The Tri-County XIII was a representative team made up mainly of Canadians and some Americans from the 4-team Tri-County competition that was played at the time).

Emerging Nations tournament

In 2000 the Canada Cougars took part in the Emerging Nations Rugby League Championship which was held in the United Kingdom. The Canadians qualified for this tournament by finishing third in Group B of the Emerging Nations qualifying tournament which was held in the United States. The Canadians put up some credible performances against group rivals the United States and Japan, but lost to both nations which earned them a third-place finish. In the Emerging Nations tournament the Canadians again put up some credible performances, against the United States and another newcomer to the competition Italy, but again finished on the losing side, this earned them another third-place finish and a wooden spoon play-off against Japan. The Canadians tipped to finish last in the tournament proved everyone wrong by beating Japan in the match 28-12 at Wigan.

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Qualifying tournament

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1  United States 2 2 0 0 122 0 +122 4
2  Japan 2 1 0 1 14 54 -30 2
3  Canada 2 0 0 2 0 82 -82 0

Finals tournament

  • United States def. Canada 52-10 Oxford United Kingdom
    • Tries: Whale, Van Der Hoek. Goal: De Snayer.
  • Italy def. Canada 66-6 Cougar Park, Keighley United Kingdom
    • Try: Coussons. Goal: Weiler.
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1  Italy 2 2 0 0 106 22 +84 4
2  United States 2 1 0 1 68 50 +18 2
3  Canada 2 0 0 2 16 118 -102 0
  • Canada def. Japan 28-12 Wigan United Kingdom, 5th and 6th place playoff
    • Tries: Demetriou 3, Whale, McKenzie. Goals: Weiler 2, De Snayer 2.

Overall Tournament History

Official Rankings as of December 2015[11]
Rank Change Team Points
1 Steady  New Zealand 897.00
2  Australia 719.00
3  England 655.00
4  Samoa 280.00
5  France 209.00
6 Increase  Ireland 162.00
7 Decrease  Fiji 147.00
8 Increase  Wales 132.00
9 Decrease  Scotland 121.00
10 Steady  United States 102.00
11 Increase  Serbia 72.00
12 Steady  Italy 65.00
13  Canada 62.00
14 Decrease  Papua New Guinea 60.00
15 Increase  Russia 46.00
16 Decrease  Tonga 40.00
17 Increase  Belgium 40.00
18  Malta 32.00
19 Steady  Germany 28.00
20  Lebanon 27.00
21 Increase  Spain 26.00
22 Decrease  Cook Islands 23.00
23  Ukraine 22.00
24 Steady  Greece 21.00
25 Increase  Denmark 20.00
26 Decrease  Norway 19.00
27 Increase  Jamaica 16.00
28 Decrease  Netherlands 15.00
29 Decrease  Sweden 15.00
30 Steady  Czech Republic 14.00
31 Decrease  South Africa 13.00
32 Steady  Niue 4.00
33  Hungary 2.00
34  Latvia 2.00
35  Morocco 0.00

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

A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Canada

World Cup

World Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
New ZealandEnglandFrancePapua New GuineaAustralia
1989-1992
Not Invited
EnglandWales 1995 Not Invited
United KingdomRepublic of IrelandFrance 2000 Failed to Qualify
Australia 2008 Not involved in qualifying
EnglandFranceRepublic of IrelandWales 2013 Not involved in qualifying
AustraliaNew Zealand 2017 Failed to Qualify
Total 0 Titles 0/13 0 0 0 0

Colonial Cup

Colonial Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
Canada 2010 Second place 2/2 1 0 1 0
Canada United States 2011 Second place 2/2 2 1 1 0
United States Canada 2012 Second place 2/2 2 0 2 0
Canada United States 2013 Second place 2/2 4 1 3 0
Canada 2014 Champions 1/2 1 1 0 0
United States 2015 Champions 1/2 3 2 1 0
Total 2 Titles 6/6 13 5 8 0

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 2011 Champions 1/2 1 1 0 0
Canada 2012 Champions 1/2 1 1 0 0
Canada 2013 Champions 1/2 1 1 0 0
Canada 2014 Champions 1/2 1 1 0 0
Total 4 Titles 4/4 4 4 0 0

Atlantic Cup

Atlantic Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
United States 2009 Not Invited
United States 2010 Second place 2/3 2 1 1 0
Total 0 Titles 1/2 2 1 1 0

All-time records

Against Played Won Lost Drawn  % Won
 France 1 0 1 0 0%
 Italy 1 0 1 0 0%
 Jamaica 5 4 1 0 80%
 Japan 2 1 1 0 50%
 United States 22 5 17 0 23%
 South Africa 1 0 1 0 0%
 Lebanon 1 1 0 0 100%
 England Lionhearts 2 0 2 0 0%
 Royal Air Force 2 0 2 0 0%
Total 37 11 26 0 31%

Results and fixtures

Below are the previous 5 matches of the national team. For all past match results, see the team's results page.
20 September 2015
13:00
United States  28–36  Canada
Report
9 August 2014
19:00
Canada  52–14  United States
Report
Lamport Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 7,356
19 July 2014
19:00
Canada  24–20  Jamaica
Report
Lamport Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 3,129
5 July 2014
19:00
Canada  12–36 England England Lionhearts
Report
Lamport Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 4,710
21 June 2014
19:00
Canada  18–40  Royal Air Force
Report
Lamport Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 7,356

See also

References

  1. http://www.canadarugbyleague.com/history/index.php?pageid=100001
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  7. Stuart Donlan named head coach of Canada Wolverines
  8. 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
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  11. RLIF Rankings.

External links