Canada national rugby league team

Canada

Nickname

Wolverines

Governing body

Canada Rugby League

Region

The Americas

Head coach

Aaron Zimmerle

Captain

Matt Wyles

Home stadium

Lamport Stadium

RLIF ranking

14th

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.

History

Further information: Rugby league in Canada

1987-2000

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

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

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	Club
FB	Robin Legault	Toronto Centurions
WG	Billy Gemmell	Brantford Broncos
CE	Christian Miller	Brantford Broncos
CE	Denny McCarthy	Oakville Crusaders
SO	Matt Wyles	Toronto Centurions
SH	Steve Piatek	Brantford Broncos
PR	Antoine Blanc	Toronto City Saints
HK	Trent Bourke	Jamberoo Superoos
SR	Erick Alverado	Brantford Broncos
SR	Enoch Wamalwa	Toronto City Saints
LF	Joey Murphy	Jamberoo Superoos
CE	Jonathan Cregg	Toronto Centurions
PR	Jason Locke	Toronto Centurions
SO	Alan Lafferty	Brantford Broncos
	Eddie Bilborough	Toronto City Saints
	JT Robothaham	Toronto Centurions
	Max Smillie	Toronto Centurions

Other Representative Match

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

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

United States def. Canada 68-0 Orlando, Florida United States
Japan def. Canada 14-0 Orlando, Florida United States

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	United States	2	2	0	122	0	+122	4
2	Japan	2	1	1	14	54	-30	2
3	Canada	2	0	2	0	82	-82	0

Finals tournament

United States def. Canada 52-10 Oxford United Kingdom
- Tries: Whale, Van Der Hoek. Goal: De Snayer.
Italy def. Canada 66-6 Cougar Park, Keighley United Kingdom
- Try: Coussons. Goal: Weiler.

	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Italy	2	2	0	106	22	+84	4
2	United States	2	1	1	68	50	+18	2
3	Canada	2	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

RLIF World Rankings
Official Rankings as of November 2016^[11]
Rank	Change	Team	Points
1		Australia
2		New Zealand
3		England
4		Scotland
5		Samoa
6		France
7		Fiji
8		Ireland
9		Wales
10		United States
11		Serbia
12		Canada
13		Italy
14		Tonga
15		Papua New Guinea
16		Russia
17		Jamaica
18		Belgium
19		Spain
20		Malta
21		Lebanon
22		Ukraine
23		Germany
24		Czech Republic
25		Cook Islands
26		Norway
27		Denmark
28		Greece
29		Sweden
30		Netherlands
31		South Africa
32		Niue
33		Philippines
34		Chile
35		Vanuatu
36		Latvia
37		Solomon Islands
38		Hungary
39		El Salvador
40		Morocco

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

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
1989-1992	Not Invited
1995	Not Invited
2000	Failed to Qualify
2008	Not involved in qualifying
2013	Not involved in qualifying
2017	Failed to Qualify
Total	0 Titles	0/13	0	0	0	0

Colonial Cup

Colonial Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2010	Second place	2/2	1	0	1	0
2011	Second place	2/2	2	1	1	0
2012	Second place	2/2	2	0	2	0
2013	Second place	2/2	4	1	3	0
2014	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
2015	Champions	1/2	3	2	1	0
Total	2 Titles	6/6	13	5	8	0

Caribbean Carnival Cup

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
2011	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
2012	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
2013	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
2014	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
Total	4 Titles	4/4	4	4	0	0

Atlantic Cup

Atlantic Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2009	Not Invited
2010	Second place	2/3	2	1	1	0
Total	0 Titles	1/2	2	1	1	0

All-time records

Against	Played	Won	Lost	% Won
France	1	0	1	0%
Italy	1	0	1	0%
Jamaica	5	4	1	80%
Japan	2	1	1	50%
United States	22	5	17	23%
South Africa	1	0	1	0%
Lebanon	1	1	0	100%
England Lionhearts	2	0	2	0%
Royal Air Force	2	0	2	0%
Total	37	11	26	31%

Results and fixtures

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

A. A. Garthwaite Stadium, Conshohocken

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 Lionhearts
	Report

Lamport Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 4,710

21 June 2014
19:00

Canada	18–40	Royal Air Force
	Report