Paying Attention to the Canadian Rugby Championships

Over the weekend, the B.C. Bears defeated the Rock, and the Pararie Wolf Pack beat the Ontario Blues in the first games of the Canadian Rugby Championships. While who won the games is not of significant note to American rugby fans, but the fact that these teams are even playing is what should make U.S. fans sit up and pay attention to the going-ons up north.

First, some background on the tournament:

In 2009 the IRB launched the Americas Rugby Championship, a tournament designed to allow nations in the Americas to build-up their national programmes through 'A' sides. The core of the tournament was to involve the U.S.A., Canada, and Argentina. Even though these three sides were to make up the core of the tournament, how each nation would approach the tournament was left up to their own national body. Argentina, coming off their success at the 2007 World Cup already had a well-structured national programme. The lack of a professional league in Argentina had forced them to basically create a national touring domestic all-star team. The Argentina Jaguars were already well established before this tournament even began.

For the Eagles, no such structure existed. U.S.A. Rugby used the Americas Rugby Championship as a vehicle to get games for the U.S.A. Select XV, which was created in 2008 as a way to get some Eagles fringe players games. Because the Americas Rugby Championship was to be held in the early part of summer, the Rugby Super League and DI were to be used as selection vehicles for the team. However, the lack of video and the short season restricted the ability of coaches to scout players. Still, the biggest concern with the team was the lack of playing time together. Players came from all sorts of clubs, some from professional overseas contracts, others from College, while still others came from various clubs around the county. Some had played together before, but for the majority of players, this would be their first introduction to a national team camp and their wasn't much time to train and come together. Additionally, the tournament structure basically meant that the U.S.A would only have two games in the tournament.

The Canadians took the more unique, and what I think is the most effective, approach. They used their IRB money to fund four regional teams (B.C. Bear, Prairie Wolf Pack, Ontario Blues, and The Rock) that would play each other in a domestic Canadian Rugby Championship and then in the Americas Rugby Championship. This meant that each team was guaranteed at least three games, and the two best teams from the domestic tournament got another two games on top of that. By doing this, Canada was able to see four times as many players as the U.S. and had more game experience for those players. This smart approach was most evident when the B.C. Bears were able to defeat the Eagles Select XV in the third-place match. After the tournament was over, Canada was able to select the best players from the tournament to take on the Argentina Jaguars in a friendly match. While they still lost the match, the scoreline was much closer than when the Eagles Select XV had taken on the Jaguars.

In 2010, the overall approach wasn't different. The tournament was held in Argentina so this meant that Canada was only able to send one team, Canada 'A', to the tournament. However, they still held their domestic tournament, getting valuable game time and experience to their players. In addition, just like in 2009, teams were able to hold exhibition games before the season, getting even more game time.

The Impact on the Eagles and the World Cup:

Even this year, when the Americas Rugby Championship is on hiatus for the World Cup, Canada is still holding the Canadian Rugby Championship. The same four teams are competing, but this time the season has been elongated to 5 regular season games as well as pre-season exhibition games. While the tournament may be a little late in terms of selection for the national team this year, it has given the opportunity for players like Chauncey O'Toole and Nathan Hirayama to get playing time and fitness before Canada begins their game. Meanwhile, U.S. players will only have one week together before taking on Canada. It is also fitting that 20 of Canada's 30-man World Cup squad are listed as playing for one of the regional teams.

Do I think that the U.S. is doing a bad job of developing players? No, I don't, in fact I think they do a good job with the limited resources they have. This is why I think that we can do a even better job if we follow the lead of Canada. I am not advocating a return to All-Star Championships; one tournament over a week a year is not enough, it needs to be longer. Neither am I advocating a return to the North American 4, but I do think that fielding two developing squads is better than one. Think about it; Canada took the replacement of the NA4 tournament to double their number of development teams, while the U.S. shrunk theirs!

The U.S. needs to develop a model that allows the best players to play with each other and regularly. Doing this will dramatically improve the squad. The biggest complaint with the U.S. team today is lack of playing time together and depth. While creating a similar competition to the Canadian Rugby Championship is not a solve-all for these problems at least it is a start. Eddie O'Sullivan can get a better idea of what players are out there and when it comes time to select an Eagles Select XV or a team for friendlies, players will have played with each other more and be more experienced.

So after all that, what is my plan? The 'U.S. Rugby Championships':

I am not going to suggest that the Super League has to go, in fact, I think it should be strengthened. But that fact is that we do not have the overall depth in talent and in organizational resources to have the Super League fit all of our needs. I think that the best approach is to move the Super League season to the fall, along with the College season, and use that as a selection vehicle for teams based in four regional areas; the West Coast, Rocky Mountains, Midwest, and East. Their are enough players to fill out four strong teams. These teams would then play each other in the Spring allowing for better and more accurate teams to be selected for the Americas Rugby Championships and the new Summer friendlies the Eagles are scheduled to have.

What is needed for this plan is cooperation of all the clubs involved, specifically, finding jobs for players in the areas that are flexible enough to allow these players to play. Providing housing (a great idea is to follow the example of the Chicago Lions that own their own apartment building). The teams do not need to be professional to be effective, but they do need the resources to at least allow the players to play without worrying about finances. The players are willing, look what several players have done in order to get fit for the World Cup. They need to be assisted in their efforts.

It may be that this isn't a reality for rugby in America, but Canada has shown the way how to have an effective and streamlined competition that improves the overall base of a national programme. We need to follow suit.