In February, 1998, Rugby Canada was pleased to announce that the Provincial Unions had voted in favour of the Rugby Canada Super League (RCSL). This new League will replace the former Tier I/Tier II/Final Match format as the Senior Men’s National Championship. The vote registered twenty-three out of twenty-eight votes in support of the League.
In a February interview with Ian Kennedy, the RCSL’s Commissioner Chris Le Fevre said “This league has the potential to heighten interest in the game of rugby across Canada. Numerous countries now have professional and semi-professional leagues with the Allied Dunbar League in England and Super 12 League in the Southern Hemisphere as the forerunners. The United States too has its Harp League which is now in its second year. This Rugby Canada Super League brings Canada in line with what other countries are doing, Canadian rugby will be the ultimate winner. Players in the fertile ground of school rugby programs will soon have specific super league teams to aspire to play for. With team work a wholesale regeneration of the game becomes feasible”.
An enormous amount of activity and discussion has been focused on the start-up year, 1998. Now, at the season’s opening, schedules are finalized for the 1998 Rugby Canada Super League, players are being registered, media coverage is expanding and the excitement level is rising.
Eleven out of the invited fourteen Rugby Unions are taking part in the inaugural season. Unions participating in the Rugby Canada Super League to date, are listed below:
The Crimson Tide (Vancouver Island Rugby Union)
Les Montréal Olympiques (Rugby Quebec)
Vancouver Rugby Club (Vancouver Rugby Union)
The Rock (Newfoundland Rugby Union)
The Valley Venom (Fraser Valley Rugby Union)
The Nova Scotia Keltics (Nova Scotia Rugby Union)
Calgary Mavericks (Calgary Rugby Union)
Black Spruce Rugby (New Brunswick Rugby Union)
Edmonton Gold (Edmonton Rugby Union)
The Prairie Fire (Saskatchewan Rugby Union)
The Manitoba Buffalo (Manitoba Rugby Union)
Unions that were invited to join in 1998 but declined to participate are the Toronto Rugby Union (TRU), Niagara Rugby Union (NRU) and Eastern Ontario Rugby Union (EORU).
“We are very pleased to see that the Membership has confirmed their support to improve the domestic competition at this level” says Rugby Canada’s Chief Operating Officer John Billingsley. “While we are disappointed that not all of the teams participate the 1998 Tournament, we are very encouraged that we will have at least eleven teams in competition for 1998. This support bodes well for further expansion beyond 1998.”
Indeed lessons learned by Rugby Canada from 1996′s attempted Pan Pacific Tournament and the success of the resultant Pacific Rim Series, show that an emergent event, with modest beginnings, has the potential to expand, attract sponsorship and draw international attention.
With Provincial Union support of the Rugby Canada Super League, Rugby Canada will go ahead with the tournament in 1998. The clear majority are in support of the concept. Rugby Canada recognizes that the job of promoting and maintaining support of the National Rugby Super League is not over, not by a long stretch. Teams who have elected to not participate in 1998 are important to the future of this new League.
Those Rugby Unions who have committed to the League in the 1998 season are to be congratulated on their courage and vision in supporting this exciting new project.
Points of Information
February, 1998
The Rugby Canada Super League is supported by Rugby Canada & its Member Unions for the following reasons;
Development of Players & Raising the Calibre of Competition in Canada
More top level games for more of Canada’s elite players.
National Selectors have increased opportunities to see players perform, from a single weekend event to up to seven games.
Each team in a seven team division will play at least six games for an equivalent financial investment similar to that of a Provincial Union playing in the old Tier I/Tier II/Final Match format.
In the long term the calibre of competition of Rugby in Canada will improve as more players are exposed to this level of competition.
The format offers a better opportunity for less developed teams to improve the calibre of their play.
Limited provision for non-Canadian players in the RCSL to assist in raising the calibre of play in Canada.