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.

For more Canadian stats, news, team results and more visit Canada RL Page and click on 'Wolverines' for the national team.

History[edit]

Further information: Rugby league in Canada

1987-2000[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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.

Main article: 2000 Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament

Qualifying tournament[edit]

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[edit]

  • United States def. Canada 52-10 Oxford United Kingdom
    • Tries: Whale, Van Der Hoek. Goal: De Snayer.
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[edit]

Official Rankings as of May 2015[11]
Rank Change Team Points
1 Increase  New Zealand 949.00
2 Decrease  Australia 941.00
3 Steady  England 485.00
4  Samoa 320.00
5  France 215.00
6  Fiji 196.00
7  Ireland 154.00
8  Scotland 123.00
9  Wales 122.00
10  United States 118.00
11  Papua New Guinea 113.00
12  Italy 79.00
13 Increase  Canada 49.00
14 Decrease  Serbia 47.00
15 Increase  Tonga 47.00
16 Decrease  Russia 45.00
17 Steady  Cook Islands 31.00
18 Decrease  Belgium 30.00
19  Germany 24.00
20 Increase  Lebanon 24.00
21 Decrease  Norway 22.00
22  Ukraine 21.00
23 Increase  Malta 20.00
24 Decrease  Greece 19.00
25 Steady  Netherlands 15.00
26 Increase  Spain 14.00
27 Decrease  Denmark 13.00
28 Increase  South Africa 12.00
29 Decrease  Jamaica 11.00
30 Decrease  Czech Republic 9.00
31  Sweden 7.00
32 Steady  Hungary 2.00
33 NEW  Niue 2.00
34 Decrease  Latvia 2.00
35 NEW  Philippines 2.00
36 Decrease  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[edit]

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 To Be Determined
Total 0 Titles 0/13 0 0 0 0

Colonial Cup[edit]

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 To Be Determined
Total 1 Title 5/5 10 3 7 0

Caribbean Carnival Cup[edit]

  • 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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Portal icon Rugby league portal
Portal icon Sport in Canada portal

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://www.canadarugbyleague.com/history/index.php?pageid=100001
  2. ^ O'Neill, Matthew (25 April 2010). [http://www.webcitation.org /query?id=1284834693297265 "Canada's national team to be known as 'Mounties'"] Check |url= scheme (help). rleague.com. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
  3. ^ CRL (2010). "Rugby League Review come on as major sponsor". Canada Rugby League. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. 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 18 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
  5. ^ CRL (2010). "National Team Fixtures - 2010 / 2011". Canada Rugby League. Archived from the original on 18 September 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 18 September 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. ^ RLIF Rankings.

External links[edit]
Full members
Affiliate nations
Unaffiliated nations
International
competitions
Awards and rankings
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