New partnership delivers first Rugby World Cup hopeful to Champ club

Nottingham have become the first club to sign a Canadian international since the groundbreaking agreement was struck between Champ Rugby and Rugby Canada to facilitate player transfers.

Spencer Jones, a 29-year-old centre, has joined the Archers, who are in the lower reaches of the embryonic league table, having won one of their first three matches in the Elior Champ.

Conscious of the need to give their players meaningful game time in the build-up to their return to the Rugby World Cup next year, Rugby Canada have partnered with the Champ to provide financial and logistical assistance to make these moves happen.

Up to 10 players are expected to cross the Atlantic and ply their trade in the Champ. By having more overseas talent competing in it, especially potential Rugby World Cup players, English rugby’s second tier will hope to reach a wider audience.

Jones, who weighs 100kgs and stands 6’1 tall, spent his teenage years in New Zealand and played age-grade rugby for Waikato.

All of his previous senior club rugby experience was in Major League Rugby (MLR), at Toronto Arrows, New England Free Jacks and latterly, Utah Warriors, although he did return briefly to New Zealand this summer to play for Hamilton Marist while he was looking for a contract.

Born in Vancouver, Jones made his Test debut in a famous 34-21 win against the USA in 2021 in a RWC 2023 qualifier and has 22 caps to his name, 20 of them starts, including four at fly-half.

He started all three games in first phase of the Nations Cup and featured in both Pacific Nations Cup matches the other month as Canada finished third.

Jones’ signature sets up the prospect of an all-Canadian 10-12 axis, as his international teammate Shane O’Leary is back on Nottingham’s books

Irish-born O’Leary is six months into his second spell at Nottingham, having re-joined the club in March after six years away, including spending some time in Major League Rugby (MLR) and the All-Ireland League.

In his first spell at the Midlands club, O’Leary, now 33, was a big hit, finishing the 2018/19 season as the Champ’s top points scorer.

Both O’Leary and Jones will hope their performances for Nottingham over the season will ensure their presence in Canada’s Rugby World Cup squad in Australia next year.

Canada didn’t make it to Rugby World Cup 2023, having failed to qualify for the tournament for the first time in their history, denying them both a chance of playing on the game’s biggest stage.

But they got the job this time around, despite falling outside of the world’s top 20, and will line up in Pool C at RWC 2027, along with Argentina, Fiji and Spain.