Wikipedia

Canada national rugby league team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Canada women's national rugby league team.
Not to be confused with Canada national rugby union team.

The Canada national rugby league team represents Canada in international rugby league football tournaments.

Canada
Badge of Canada team
Team information
NicknameWolverines
Governing bodyCanada Rugby League
RegionAmericas
Head coachAaron Zimmerle
CaptainSkyler Dumas
Home stadiumLamport Stadium
IRL ranking41st
Uniforms
First colours
Second colours
Team results
First international
 Canada 23–10 United States 
(1987)
Biggest win
 Canada 52–14 United States 
(Toronto, Ontario; 9 August 2014)
Biggest defeat
 England 68–4 Canada 
(Toronto, Ontario; 6 October 2012)

History

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Further information: Rugby league in Canada

1987–2000: Origins

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Rugby league was first introduced to Canada in the 1900s but was quickly outlawed by Rugby Union officials and thus became Canadian Football. It was not until the late 1980s that rugby league was re-introduced to Canada at an amateur level, 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 and one in the U.S., the New York–based Adirondacks club.[1]

The Canadian national team played their first game in 1987 against the USA. They then played sporadically throughout the 1990s and participated in the 1995 and '96 Rugby League World Sevens and Rugby League Emerging Nations World Cup in 2000. Following the 2000 Emerging Nations World Cup, the Canadian Rugby League Federation folded. As a result, the national team was disbanded and the sport remained dormant for 10 years.

2010 onwards: Revival

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The briefly used "Mounties" 2010 logo

In 2010, a new governing body, Canada Rugby League, was formed. Their first comeback game was in 2010 in the War at the Shore tournament, where they played New England Immortals, a New England representative team, and the New York Knights AMNRL club team, losing both games.[2] The team's international comeback was later in the year in September in the inaugural Colonial Cup.[3] Later that year they competed in the Rugby League Atlantic Cup in Jacksonville, Florida.

Canada's first win since they were reformed came the following year in 2011 against Jamaica. They collected their second win in September, against the US in the second game of the Colonial Cup. However, due to an earlier loss to the US and the resulting aggregate scores, Canada was unable to win the Cup. Canada's international season finished up with a defeat against South Africa, in a warm up game before their 2013 World Cup qualifiers campaign.

In 2014, Stuart Donlan was appointed as head coach.[4] Donlan'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.[5] Aaron Zimmerle, the head coach of the Tweed Heads Seagulls, took over the main coaching role in 2015 in their 2017 World Cup qualifying campaign.[6]

After failing to qualify for the 2017 World Cup, the Canada Rugby League Board appointed Benjamin Fleming as coach on a three-year deal. Canada Rugby League Association Vice President David Graham said "the board's decision to appoint Fleming as Head Coach was based on the hard work and passion he has shown since returning to the association last year."

Current squad

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Canada squad for March 1, 2024 match against the USA Hawks.[7]

Player Caps Points Club
Dillon Hamilton 1 0
Josh Michalik 2 4
Luke Toroca 1 4
Lee Keegel 2 4
Colton Carpenter 2 8
Blake Mahovic 2 8
Jacob Bourne 2 6
David Astley 1 0
Ben Stothers 2 0
Chuck Curran 2 4
Jason Chuck 2 0
Jason Park 2 2
Scyler Dumas 2 0
Kyle Yurkiw 2 0
Daniel Martyn 2 0
Niko Andrionas 1 0
Danny Tupou 1 0

Competitive Record

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Main article: List of Canada national rugby league team results

Overall and IRL Rankings

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IRL Men's World Rankings
Official rankings as of 30 June 2024
Rank Change Team Pts %
1     Australia 100
2     New Zealand 82
3     England 80
4     Samoa 67
5     Tonga 49
6   1   Fiji 47
7   1   Papua New Guinea 46
8     France 28
9     Lebanon 22
10     Cook Islands 20
11     Serbia 19
12     Netherlands 17
13     Italy 15
14   1   Greece 15
15   1   Malta 14
16     Ireland 14
17     Wales 13
18     Jamaica 10
19     Scotland 9
20     Ukraine 7
21     Czech Republic 7
22     Germany 6
23   3   Chile 6
24     Poland 6
25   3   Norway 6
26   1   Kenya 5
27   4   Philippines 5
28   3   South Africa 4
29     Nigeria 4
30     Ghana 4
31   2   United States 4
32   4   Montenegro 4
33   2   Brazil 3
34   2   Turkey 3
35   7   North Macedonia 3
36   2   Bulgaria 3
37   2   Cameroon 2
38   1   Spain 2
39   1   Japan 1
40   1   Albania 1
41   5   Canada 1
42   2   Colombia 1
43   2   El Salvador 1
44   1   Morocco 1
45     Russia 0
46   2   Sweden 0
47   2   Bosnia and Herzegovina 0
48   2   Hungary 0
49   3   Argentina 0
50     Hong Kong 0
51   3   Solomon Islands 0
52   5   Niue 0
53   1   Latvia 0
54   1   Denmark 0
55   6   Belgium 0
56   1   Estonia 0
57   6   Vanuatu 0
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

Below is the head-to-head record of the Canadian national XIII side up to date as of 22 October 2024.[8][9]

Against First Played P W L D % Won Last Played F A D
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2019 1 1 0 0 100% 2018 78 2 +76
  Chile 2018 1 1 0 0 100% 2018 62 12 +50
  England Lionhearts 2012 2 0 2 0 0% 2014 16 102 –86
  Fiji 2016 1 0 1 0 0% 2016 12 26 –14
  France 1995 1 0 1 0 0% 1995 32 72 –40
  Italy 2000 1 0 1 0 0% 2000 6 66 –60
  Jamaica 2010 10 6 3 1 60% 2024 238 180 +58
  Japan 1999 2 1 1 0 50% 2000 28 26 +2
  Lebanon 2012 1 1 0 0 100% 2012 36 18 +18
  Serbia 2019 1 0 1 0 0% 2019 8 36 –28
  South Africa 2011 1 0 1 0 0% 2011 22 36 –14
  United States 1993 28 5 22 1 20.83% 2024 448 914 –466
Total 1993 50 15 33 1 31.11% 2024 986 1,490 –504

World Cup

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World Cup Record
Year Round Position Pld Win Draw Loss
  1954 did not enter
  1957
  1960
    1968
  1970
  1972
1975
    1977
1985–88
1989–92
  1995
      2000 did not qualify
  2008
    2013
      2017
  2021
  2026

Colonial Cup

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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
    2016 Second place 2/2 2 0 2 0
  2017 Second place 2/2 1 0 1 0
  2024 Draw 1/2 1 0 0 1
Total 2 Titles 9/9 17 5 11 1

Caribbean Carnival Cup

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  • 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

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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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Lester, Jamie (5 April 2010). "Canadian team to play in AMNRL 'War at the Shore'". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  3. ^ O'Neill, Matthew (16 August 2010). "Canada to host USA in inaugural Colonial Cup". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  4. ^ "Stuart Donlan named head coach of Canada Wolverines". Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Rugby League Planet - Canada 52 smack USA 14 in Rugby League international". www.rugbyleagueplanet.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Canada announces Aaron Zimmerle as head coach for Qualifiers". CRL. 11 September 2015. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Senior International Matches 2024". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Head to Head". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  9. ^ "PAST RESULTS". Canada rugby league. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
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