‘No limit to our ambition’: Canada coach on landmark Champ Rugby deal

Rugby Canada announced a significant strategic deal with Champ Rugby in England earlier this week, which coach Stephen Meehan expects to have a positive impact on the national side ahead of upcoming Men’s Rugby World Cups.

Before the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2026 gets underway this weekend for the Canuks, Rugby Canada revealed the landmark partnership with Champ Rugby on August 8, which will give men’s players a chance to ply their trade across the pond.

The reformatted second-tier competition in English rugby features 14 teams, and will welcome some Canadian internationals to continue their development in high-performance, professional environments ahead of next year’s World Cup.

RugbyPass reported on Tuesday that financial and logistical measures have been introduced to encourage Champ Rugby sides to sign Canadian players. Coach Meehan estimates that about 15 Canadians could be based overseas, across countries like England, Ireland and France.

“It’s a great thing for the players. It’s a great thing to reintroduce them basically into Europe,” Meehan told reporters.

“If you have a look now, there’s at least five of our forwards in Pro D2. We’ve got a similar number at the moment on their way to the Championship when this tour finishes.

“It’s a great development through World Rugby, through the Championship, through Rugby Canada and Nathan Bombrys, the CEO [of Rugby Canada] has done a fantastic job. He’s worked tirelessly for this and on behalf of the players so I think they’ve got a bit to be grateful for.

“They’ll get to play a lot of rugby in a good competition and that can only be a good thing for them in their development and for our national side going forward. I hope that obviously it continues on – it might have a greater impact for 2031 than it will for 2027, but it’s a great start.”

Canada have qualified for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027, and this partnership comes another benefit for the program. Former Chiefs lock Tyler Ardon continues to play at a high level, now with Castres in the Top 14, but there haven’t been many Canadians playing in the UK.

Nations One side Reading Rams announced on June 25 that Ryan Cozens had signed, and the forward could potentially debut for Canada during the Pacific Nations Cup. Dewald Kotze, Sam Turner and Barnaby Waddell have also spent time with English clubs.

From the Canada squad list for the PNC, national team players are aligned to clubs in Ireland, Portugal and Wales as well. Ardon, Andrew Quattrin and Evan Olmstead have played 109 Tests between them, but those three are unavailable due to their club commitments in France.

“There’s a number of clubs in that competition… if you get a player or two in every club that would be fantastic but it is a competitive area. I guess there’s no limit to our ambition. You hope that if it starts with six or eight this season, you’d want that six or eight to be good ambassadors for Rugby Canada… they can help lay the foundations for players going forward,” Meehan explained.

“We’ve got a couple of players going back into the AIL in Ireland this year as well, so that will be good for their development.

“There’s probably 15 players through Ireland, through France and through the Championship at the moment. Hopefully it just grows. Hopefully we get those chances and we see what they can do.”