Canada vs. U.S.A. Pacific Nations Cup. 25/05/13

[LittleGuy]

Phew wow, great defence at the end by Canada, sloppy game though, take the win I guess and holding the USA tryless(first time in 21 games for States they haven't got a try.)

 

[CDN_Rugby]

Cameraman staring at the crowd their for 10 seconds LMFAO.

To say that this stream was subpar is an understatement, eh?

 

[dudeabides]

Wow, they gave USA a couple big opportunities at the end with the scrum put in five meters in front of the sticks, they knocked it on, then the lineout after everyone thought it was over, knocked on again. Congrats to the Canada rugby fans though that was exciting stuff especially if you were one of those lucky fans watching in person. Can't wait for the 'rematch' in August!

 

[LittleGuy]

To say that this stream was subpar is an understatement, eh?

The camerwork was almost as bad as Kingston last year, the commentary wasn't as bad as last year's two games that were streamed. Kelly was actually OK and Smith was fair in the colour.

Final Score 16-9.(10-3 at half)

Canada

Try: Moonlight
Conversion: Braid 1(1)
Penalties: Braid 3(4)
Drop Goal: Braid 0(1)

United States

Penalties: Sillar 3(4)

Man of the match: Tyler Ardron(good choice, Braid would have been another possible pick)

 

[usausa]

USA scoring:

Pens: Siddall 3/4

 

[LittleGuy]

USA scoring:

Pens: Siddall 3/4

Thanks usausa, I couldn't remember the first half attempts.

 

[norcalbuff]

To say that this stream was subpar is an understatement, eh?

Rugby Canada has history with awful streams. Last year's match against us and the 2009 RWC Qualifier against us were equally bad. The IRB needs to impose some standards if it wants to have any hope of attracting sponsors. That said, Japan managed to put together an excellent stream for their Tonga match last night.

 

[CDN_Rugby]

Rugby Canada has history with awful streams. Last year's match against us and the 2009 RWC Qualifier against us were equally bad. The IRB needs to impose some standards if it wants to have any hope of attracting sponsors. That said, Japan managed to put together an excellent stream for their Tonga match last night.

I believe that was the IRB and not the JRFU, no? IRB streams are quality.

 

[LittleGuy]

Rugby Canada has history with awful streams. Last year's match against us and the 2009 RWC Qualifier against us were equally bad. The IRB needs to impose some standards if it wants to have any hope of attracting sponsors. That said, Japan managed to put together an excellent stream for their Tonga match last night.

This was the worst of the worst, it was essentially broken as 10x as many people as the Rugby Canada brain trust thought were going to watch the game tuned in. The result was an audio broadcast accompanied by "rugby stills". I actually only "watched" the match for the first time last fall when I found that the archive was still available!!!

 

[LittleGuy]

I believe that was the IRB and not the JRFU, no? IRB streams are quality.

Yeah it was a stream of an actual TV broadcast, I watched the game on Sportsnet World.

 

[psychic duck]

Rugby Canada is actually quite a dismal organisation of old farts.

The sport started tin the country through Brits coming and passing in down through generation, and they have been very slow out of ameuterism and done nothing ever to have ambition and getthe sport wider appeal in the country. Just see their non existent efforts to try and get boost the sport in French Canada. The fact there has been merely one ever French Canadian play, and they never play matches or anything there just proves my point. Add to that they are happy with amateur type matches like this one with crappy streams in a ground little more than a public park.

Contrast that to the efforts of the USA who have been a lot more proactive in various ways. That's why the US will get a pro league at some stage and get more interest and bigger player pool and Canada will get left behind in the bottom 4 of the RWC. Just look how USA marketed Italy and got 17,000 last year compared to Canada's meagre efforts to sell their June tests.

Yeah it was a stream of an actual TV broadcast, I watched the game on Sportsnet World.

J-Sports (pay tv sports channel) were the ones covering it.

 

[norcalbuff]

PD,

Presumably Rugby Canada relies on IRB grants for the national team and other high performance programs much like USA Rugby does. Why don't the IRB step in and tell them to step it up or they will cut off funding?

Of course, the IRB is also basically a dismal organization of incompetent old farts so I don't have a whole lot of hope.

 

[CDN_Rugby]

Rugby Canada is actually quite a dismal organisation of old farts.

The sport started tin the country through Brits coming and passing in down through generation, and they have been very slow out of ameuterism and done nothing ever to have ambition and getthe sport wider appeal in the country. Just see their non existent efforts to try and get boost the sport in French Canada. The fact there has been merely one ever French Canadian play, and they never play matches or anything there just proves my point. Add to that they are happy with amateur type matches like this one with crappy streams in a ground little more than a public park.

Contrast that to the efforts of the USA who have been a lot more proactive in various ways. That's why the US will get a pro league at some stage and get more interest and bigger player pool and Canada will get left behind in the bottom 4 of the RWC. Just look how USA marketed Italy and got 17,000 last year compared to Canada's meagre efforts to sell their June tests.



J-Sports (pay tv sports channel) were the ones covering it.

Games at BMO Field are actually well attended. The week before the U.S.A./Italy game, Canada and Italy played in front of around 14,000 people I think. Games at BMO Field are never amateur.

 

[norcalbuff]

Games at BMO Field are actually well attended. The week before the U.S.A./Italy game, Canada and Italy played in front of around 14,000 people I think. Games at BMO Field are never amateur.

BMO Field seems to be the only reasonable looking venue that Rugby Canada ever play at. I know there aren't a whole lot of options in Canada when compared to the US, but compare the venues being used this summer. We'll be playing at these stadiums:

along with the NZ Maori in November here



and the USA 7s here





Compare that to the venue used today, the under-construction Richardson Stadium or Twin Elm Rugby Park. There is really no comparison and it's been that way for awhile.

 

[norcalbuff]

I should add that even though we are a much bigger country with more stadiums, many of them are not appropriate for rugby because American football fields are so much more narrow than rugby pitches. Canadian football fields are an extra 10 yards wider and are also longer so finding football stadiums to use should not be a problem for you guys.

 

[LittleGuy]

I should add that even though we are a much bigger country with more stadiums, many of them are not appropriate for rugby because American football fields are so much more narrow than rugby pitches. Canadian football fields are an extra 10 yards wider and are also longer so finding football stadiums to use should not be a problem for you guys.

All of our professional Canadian football fields are on turf. The last one to switch was Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton which had hosted games before removing it's grass. There are some University options but some of these are also turf or aren't that great.

Richardson Stadium in Kingston isn't awful and drew quite well for States last year and I expect will be well attended for Tonga. The game against Fiji will be played in Ottawa at a facility that isn't much more than the one in Edmonton.

Edit: The new MLS stadiums seem like the best option, but Vancouver Whitecaps play in a dome and Saputo is in Montreal which Rugby Canada might be reluctant to play at with attendance(or lack there of a possibility). Hamilton is getting a new stadium soon but the city is only an hour South of Toronto so it's essentially in the same area.

Edit Edit: Richardson Stadium in Kingston is actually our third largest natural grass stadium, Saputo in Montreal is the only venue that could potentially be worthwhile that Canada isn't using at the moment.(Their is an all grass stadium in Moncton NB about the same size as Richardson which is OK, it has hosted CFL games before and is expandable but nothing special.)

 

[norcalbuff]

Artificial turf should no longer be a problem unless the turf uses vastly outdated technology. Saracens now play on turf and Cardiff Blues are switching their pitch to turf next year.

 

[LittleGuy]

Artificial turf should no longer be a problem unless the turf uses vastly outdated technology. Saracens now play on turf and Cardiff Blues are switching their pitch to turf next year.

There were so many complaints about BMO Field's, FIFA approved turf that Toronto FC had to change it to grass after a couple of seasons which is when Rugby Canada became able to use it for tests. The small stadium we have in Langford where the center of excellence is has turf and was used for the ARC, but Rugby Canada said they'd probably have to twist some arms to get a full test match there.

All the Unversity stadiums would be using older surfaces and many of the CFL ones are as well, if we are lucky maybe the newer stadiums in Winnpeg and Hamilton will be possible venues(if other countries find the turf acceptable). Possibly BC Place in Vancouver but Swangard is decent for smaller tests anyway and after the poor attendances in BC lately I doubt Rugby Canada will risk trying a massive venue out there.

I would like to see Saputo in Montreal given a game at some point(perhaps when France next visits) and Moncton should be given a shot as well since it has a 10,000 seat grass stadium that dosen't look like a cow patch. To be fair Rugby Canada has actually been improving the venue situation(from admittedly embarrasing lows) we used to play game's at places like Fletcher's Fields which even the League national team dosen't like using. We also used club facilities in Hamilton and St. John's in years past at least the one in Edmonton and the one upcoming in Ottawa have some stands in place.

 

[norcalbuff]

Turf technology has come a long way since they made that change, though. It's only in the past year that pro rugby teams have been starting to move to turf. BC Place's turf is good enough to be used for rugby at the very least. I'm not up on the CFL stadiums, but presumably they'll upgrade their stuff soon if they haven't already.

Anyway, all you have to do is look at the quality of the stream from Rugby Canada today compared to the US club final's stream to see how amateur RC is. Not just the camera work, but the production value, the commentary and the ref being mic-ed up.

 

[LittleGuy]

Turf technology has come a long way since they made that change, though. It's only in the past year that pro rugby teams have been starting to move to turf. BC Place's turf is good enough to be used for rugby at the very least. I'm not up on the CFL stadiums, but presumably they'll upgrade their stuff soon if they haven't already.

Anyway, all you have to do is look at the quality of the stream from Rugby Canada today compared to the US club final's stream to see how amateur RC is. Not just the camera work, but the production value, the commentary and the ref being mic-ed up.

I think this is on the pipeline, CFL budgets aren't large but I think the teams realize it will cut down on injuries long term and make the league more attractive to imports and players that are on the cusp of being CFL starters or NFL practice squad and bench warmers.

Not disagreeing with the stream it sucked and all of them have(the Gerogia one last year and ARC had OK camera work but lousy commentary). I'm more upset that the game wasn't picked up by a TV network though, surely TSN up here and ESPN(put it on the Ocho possibly?) down there could have split some costs and put a pretty basic broadcast of the game up. I have heard the RWCQ's will be on TV and that each country will be simulcasting the other's home broadcast(as happened in 2011 and the US home RWCQ in 2009.) This is a start, and Canada's game against Ireland will be televised(possibly the Japan one as well I'm hearing will be picked up by Sportsnet World or TSN).

Edit: Also why should the IRB threaten to cut off our funding? Since when was USA Rugby run perfectly?