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Canada's 2014 Home Schedule announced.

As expected, the June 7th match against Japan will be played in Burnaby at Swangard Stadium. Apparently some extra seating wil be installed.
 
Yeah I saw that the very All-Blacks were visiting the US this coming November. Should be one fantastic promotion for the sport in the country. Crowds will see those kiwis run rampant and show off the sort of expansive style and gorgeous movements the sport can deploy. And what a treat for the Eagles. I know a lot of em are barely semi-pro. Dunno where it'll be held yet in the States though right now...

I'll be watching that CAN SCO for sure in June. Interesting matchup and a good test for Canada, and being at home this could turn out to be a good tight contest.
 
Well you can scrap seeing DTH Van De Merwe in Canadian colours again this spring. Once again he needs shoulder surgery and is out for 6 months. Shouldn't be the end of the world for Canada especially if Trainor continues his hot form from recent 7's play. Bit of a blow though for the Scottish game, think it would have been nice for him to line up against his Glasgow team mates. He's really reaching Cudmore levels of absense from the national team now.
 
Our away game to the States in June has been announced for June 21st. in Sacremento, probably out of range of virtually all Canadian rugby fans to take a trek down to. States are playing Japan in Hawaii on the 14th.
 
TRF_LittleGuy said:
Our away game to the States in June has been announced for June 21st. in Sacremento, probably out of range of virtually all Canadian rugby fans to take a trek down to. States are playing Japan in Hawaii on the 14th.
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I can see why Canadians wouldn't be thrilled about a trip to Sacramento in June but it's not exactly difficult to get to. One stop flights from any decent sized city in Canada or you can fly directly to SF/Oakland and drive or take the train. Sacramento is a pretty solid base if you have a bit of time and want to see Northern California too. It's halfway between Tahoe and SF, nearby Lodi and Amador County have excellent wines and aren't as pretentious and expensive as Napa, Gold Country is close and even Yosemite is within driving distance.
 
norcalbuff said:
I can see why Canadians wouldn't be thrilled about a trip to Sacramento in June but it's not exactly difficult to get to. One stop flights from any decent sized city in Canada or you can fly directly to SF/Oakland and drive or take the train. Sacramento is a pretty solid base if you have a bit of time and want to see Northern California too. It's halfway between Tahoe and SF, nearby Lodi and Amador County have excellent wines and aren't as pretentious and expensive as Napa, Gold Country is close and even Yosemite is within driving distance.
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Lack of nuance in my first post, I was treating it as more a one or two day trip kind of deal for Canadian rugby fans, the game had been rumoured for the Northeast which would have allowed this. I'm sure a few fans will take the trip and take in the beauty of California but it won't be a pile of Canadians as a Northeast(or even a Northwest e.g. Seattle/Portland) game probably would have gotten. A November Canada vs. U.S.A. game in California would probably excite the fan base a lot more :D
 
TRF_LittleGuy said:
Lack of nuance in my first post, I was treating it as more a one or two day trip kind of deal for Canadian rugby fans, the game had been rumoured for the Northeast which would have allowed this. I'm sure a few fans will take the trip and take in the beauty of California but it won't be a pile of Canadians as a Northeast(or even a Northwest e.g. Seattle/Portland) game probably would have gotten. A November Canada vs. U.S.A. game in California would probably excite the fan base a lot more :D
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Absolutely. Tons of Canadians at the Vegas 7s in Jan/Feb for this reason.

Sacramento is quite hot in the summer. Actually, all of these home test venues are going to be hot. Houston and Honolulu are not exactly refreshing in the summer either.
 
Canada vs. Japan tickets have now gone on sale as well, the kickoff time will be 6 p.m. local time.
 
Regarding the All Blacks game in the USA:

Tew added that the match, pending on the status of the American's international players, could see the All Blacks play a North American selection, combining the strength of the Eagles and Canada.
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source

What do you guys think of a combined team? Personally, I'd rather see them play the Eagles, but I'm sure a lot of Canadians would love a chance to play the All Blacks outside of a World Cup...
 
mattgrande said:
Regarding the All Blacks game in the USA:



source

What do you guys think of a combined team? Personally, I'd rather see them play the Eagles, but I'm sure a lot of Canadians would love a chance to play the All Blacks outside of a World Cup...
Click to expand...

The involvement of some Canadian players would be great from my point of view, as I'm already waiting for announcement of venue, as I'd like to go to the match - not sure how it would go from a team unity point of view, or whether the north American public would get behind that team as much as they would behind the Eagles or Canada ... as they are looking to play outside of the International window, and they are wanting to support their major sponsor/up their profile in North America, why don't they up the All Blacks squad numbers, and play both Canada, and the USA. The team that the All Blacks field for each game, could be a mix of old and new talent, so they could develop a few new players.

... from a purely selfish point of view, I just want to go to another All Blacks live game again, so it doesn't really matter who they play, but I'm sure that IF the Eagles or Canada managed to achieve the unlikely, and actually beat the All Blacks, it would mean a lot more, than if a North American selection beat them ... also, what happens if the top Canadian and US players aren't available, do they strengthen the side with players from other countries ... then you've got a world XV/barbarians type scenario (not sure how that would be received either)
 
They're already having trouble getting the European Eagles released for this match since it's outside the window. A second test outside the window would not be remotely feasible. All Blacks are already going to play a largely experimental squad like they did against Japan.
 
It's not looking good for us to get a 4th test in this June window either...very dissapointing we had 10 tests and an exhibtion match last year for 11 games and already this year it looks like we are heading to another year with 6 or 7 games. Not enough no wonder Melville is talking about the America's sides getting another tourney/more games in the February or August windows.
 
Yeah, I think making a multi-national team would just complicate things. And I'm sure fans in both countries would prefer to see their own country.
 
norcalbuff said:
Absolutely. Tons of Canadians at the Vegas 7s in Jan/Feb for this reason.

Sacramento is quite hot in the summer. Actually, all of these home test venues are going to be hot. Houston and Honolulu are not exactly refreshing in the summer either.
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Sweat 'em out. The Scots will never know what hit them.

I wouldn't be in favour of a mixed NA side agains the All Blacks. It just turns it into a no-stake exhibition game which is a lot less exciting to watch. Give it to the Eagles and have a true test between the best in the world and a tier II team.

With you Littleguy on the scheduling bull****. Most tier I teams will play 11/12 tests per year plus a handful of games for their 'A' squad. Six or seven for us? Really? The year before the world cup and we're already being put at a disadvantage by not having the games to build team cohesion at test level rugby. Any fan would be ****** off.
 
25% of the Scotland tickets have been sold which is good news. Really dissapointed we couldn't get a fourth game in this window. Surely a team like Uruguay or Chile even could have been available if we'd put our minds and hearts to it.
 
Posted this in another place, got some good discussion going about it:

Obviously this would probably start off as a 'semi pro' league. But here it goes, and I look forward to all your nitpicking.

Two league, a 'western league' and an 'eastern league' which would each consists of between 6 to 8 teams to start. Both leagues would play a home and away style comp and the winners of each league would meet in a rugby 'super bowl' for North American bragging rights. So there would be no inter league games.

Cities selected were chosen for their potential to support their teams and to bring down travel costs.

Western League

Victoria
Vancouver
Calgary
Seattle
Sacramento
San Francisco
Los Angeles (due to their Tongan Population)

Derby's between Victoria and Vancouver and along with Seattle would be epic.

Eastern League

Toronto
St. John's or Halifax
Kingston or another Eastern Ontario city
Boston
New York
Philadelphia
Chicago or another Eastern sea board city

Cities like Denver and Houston would miss out due to travel costs but if the league was successful they would be some of the first choices for expansion.
Click to expand...
 

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