Canada national rugby league team

Canada
Team information
Nickname Wolverines
Governing body Canada Rugby League
Region The Americas
Head coach Benjamin Fleming
Captain Matt Wyles
Home stadium Lamport Stadium
RLIF ranking 12th
Uniforms
First colours
Second colours
Team results
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

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]

In 2017 the Canada Rugby League Board appointed Benjamin Fleming for 3 seasons.

Canada Rugby League Association Vice President David Graham said “the board’s decision to appoint Fleming as Head Coach was based on the hard work and passion he has shown since returning to the association last year."

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]

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.

Qualifying tournament

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1  United States 22001220+1224
2  Japan 21011454-302
3  Canada 2002082-820

Finals tournament

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1  Italy 220010622+844
2  United States 21016850+182
3  Canada 200216118-1020

Overall Tournament History

Official Rankings as of May 2017[11]
RankChangeTeamPoints
1 Same position  Australia
2  New Zealand
3  England
4  Scotland
5  Samoa
6  France
7 Rise  Ireland
8 Fall  Fiji
9 Same position  Wales
10  United States
11 Rise  Tonga
12 Fall  Serbia
13  Canada
14  Italy
15 Same position  Papua New Guinea
16  Russia
17  Jamaica
18  Belgium
19 Rise  Malta
20 Fall  Spain
21 Same position  Lebanon
22  Ukraine
23  Germany
24 Rise  Cook Islands
25 Fall  Czech Republic
26 Same position  Norway
27  Denmark
28  Greece
29  Sweden
30  Netherlands
31 Rise  Niue
32 Fall  South Africa
33 Rise  Hungary
34 Fall  Philippines
35 New entry  Thailand
36 Fall  Chile
37  Vanuatu
38 Rise  El Salvador
39 Fall  Latvia
40 Rise  Solomon Islands
41 New entry  Uruguay
42 Fall  Morocco

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 KingdomIrelandFrance 2000 Failed to Qualify
Australia 2008 Not involved in qualifying
EnglandWales 2013 Not involved in qualifying
AustraliaNew Zealand 2017 Failed to Qualify
Total0 Titles0/130000

Colonial Cup

Colonial Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
Canada 2010Second place2/21010
Canada United States 2011Second place2/22110
United States Canada 2012Second place2/22020
Canada United States 2013Second place2/24130
Canada 2014Champions1/21100
United States 2015Champions1/23210
Total2 Titles6/613580

Caribbean Carnival Cup

Caribbean Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
Canada 2011Champions1/21100
Canada 2012Champions1/21100
Canada 2013Champions1/21100
Canada 2014Champions1/21100
Total4 Titles4/44400

Atlantic Cup

Atlantic Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
United States 2009 Not Invited
United States 2010Second place2/32110
Total0 Titles1/22110

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.
15 October 2016
19:00
Canada  10–22 South Wales Ironmen
Report
1 October 2016
19:00
United States  20–14  Canada
Report
Eden Park Stadium, Wilmington
24 September 2016
19:00
Canada  8–14 United States 
Report
20 August 2016
18:00
Canada  12–22 Fiji 
Report
20 August 2016
19:00
Canada  6–38 England England Lionhearts

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.canadarugbyleague.com/history/index.php?pageid=100001
  2. ↑ O'Neill, Matthew (25 April 2010). "Canada's national team to be known as 'Mounties'". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  3. ↑ CRL (2010). "Rugby League Review come on as major sponsor". Canada Rugby League. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  4. ↑ Lester, Jamie (5 April 2010). "Canadian team to play in AMNRL 'War at the Shore'". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  5. ↑ CRL (2010). "National Team Fixtures - 2010 / 2011". Canada Rugby League. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  6. ↑ O'Neill, Matthew (16 August 2010). "Canada to host USA in inaugural Colonial Cup". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  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
  9. ↑ "Canada announces Aaron Zimmerle as head coach for Qualifiers". CRL. 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
  10. ↑ "Canada name their squad to face the USA". rlif.com. 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  11. ↑
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