Canada to take on Scotland in Edmonton, AB

Commonwealth stadium is the largest open-air stadium in Canada and is commonly used for football, athletics, soccer and concerts. It is however no stranger to rugby and has previously hosted men’s Churchill Cup fixtures in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The stadium also played host to the final, third-place and fifth-place matches in the 2006 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

The 56,000-seat stadium is expected to host thousands of rugby fans from across the country to watch Canada take on one of the most exciting teams in world rugby at the moment. It will also be the first time in four years that Canada takes on a top-10 team on home soil. Rugby Canada is delighted to once again be working with the local organizing committee, along with local event production company MB Events, who assisted in last year’s test match against Romania at Ellerslie Rugby Park.

The two nations have previously met on five occasions, with Scotland currently leading the record 3-2-0. The last fixture between the two sides came in 2014 when Scotland, after a controversial decision from the match official in the 75th minute, narrowly beat Canada 19-17 at BMO Field in Toronto. Both of Canada’s victories against the Scots have come at home: 26-23 in Vancouver, BC in 2002 and 24-19 in Saint John, NB in 1991.

Scotland is currently ranked 6th in the world and have claimed impressive victories against the likes of England and Australia recently. They were also narrowly defeated by the New Zealand All Blacks 22-17 this past November.

Canada is ranked 21st in the World Rugby rankings after finishing the 2018 Americas Rugby Championship in 4th place behind Uruguay, Argentina XV and USA.

The June test matches will serve as crucial preparation for Canada as they look to build confidence ahead of their final Rugby World Cup qualifying repechage tournament in November.

In addition to this match, Rugby Canada will be hosting a further two test matches on home soil as part of the June Summer Series of matches, presented by DHL, with details to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Rugby Canada will also be hosting an official event dinner on June 7 where both Canada and Scotland team members will be in attendance to engage and share moments with the rugby community.  Details and ticket information to be released in the coming weeks.  

Tickets for the match start as low as $19 and go sale on Thursday, March 22 at 10am MT.  For more information and to purchase tickets to the match visit www.rugby.ca. 

Rugby Canada would also like to thank the following partners for their support of this event: Canterbury, Kubota, Guinness, City of Edmonton, Edmonton Events, Rugby Alberta, Edmonton Rugby Union, MB Events & the Province of Alberta.

Quotes:

Allen Vansen, CEO of Rugby Canada says: “In partnership with DHL, the local organizing committee & MB Events, we are thrilled to be bringing back international men’s rugby to Commonwealth Stadium, where Rugby Canada has held a number of successful events in the past. Scotland is one of the proudest rugby playing nations and have been in great form lately. We cannot wait to play them in front of some of Canada’s most passionate fans and know that the entire Edmonton, Alberta and Canadian rugby community will support this event and our national team”

Canada Coach Kingsley Jones says: “Having the opportunity to face a tier-one side at home is exciting for us and we’re looking forward to kicking off our June International Series in front of a packed house at Commonwealth Stadium. These test matches are vital for us as we continue building towards the 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying series in November.”

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About Rugby Canada

Rugby Canada is the national governing body of the sport of rugby union in Canada. Rugby Union has a long history in Canada dating back to its initial appearances in the 1860s. Since 1974, Rugby Canada has been a permanent fixture on the global rugby scene, including trips to each of the eight Rugby World Cup tournaments and seven Women’s Rugby World Cup tournaments. As a regular on the men’s and women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, Canada continues to climb the world rankings and challenge the dominant rugby nations in both versions of the game.

To support the growth of rugby at the grass-roots level and to ensure there are elite programs prospering young rugby players to become involved, Rugby Canada has put an emphasis on developing its junior programs. Our goal is the develop and train competitive teams for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Japan, 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in USA and 2019 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan and beyond.