Canada

The Canada national rugby union team, also known by their French title of Équipe du Canada de rugby à XV, represent the country of Canada in the Americas Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup.

Although the sport of rugby union is not normally associated with the Americas, the Canada Rugby team are widely considered to be a successful tier two side. They've appeared in every edition of the Rugby World Cup since the tournament was founded in 1987 and they reached the quarter-final stage of the competition in 1991. The team have also achieved victories over established international sides such as France, Wales, Italy and Scotland.

Read on to discover even more about the Canada Rugby team. On this page, you can read the latest news about the side and see the team's upcoming fixtures and recent results.

The history of the Canada Rugby team dates all the way back to 1932 when the side made their debut against Japan. Following this, the team only played intermittently. However, the British and Irish Lions did make a stop in Canada on their way home from New Zealand in 1966. The Lions won the match 19-8, but Canada were highly competitive and the team soon established themselves as the best in the Americas, even if they did struggle against elite sides from Europe and the Southern Hemisphere.

In the 1980s and 90s, the Canada Rugby team built on this success. They appeared in the first ever Rugby World Cup in 1987 and they reached the quarter-finals of the competition in the next edition. Following this, they began to establish themselves against top-class opposition. They beat Wales in 1993 and France in 1994. Then, they drew with Ireland in 2000 and beat Scotland in 2002.

However, this period was a golden era for the Canada Rugby team. Since, although they've still featured in every edition of the Rugby World Cup, they've never qualified from their pool. Similarly, although they're still considered to be a strong side, they've fallen behind Uruguay and Argentina and can no longer claim to be the best team in the Americas.

Throughout history, the Canada Rugby team has contained several top players who have proudly represented their country. For example, record point scorer James Pritchard scored more than 600 points for Canada between 2003 and 2015, while Aaron Carpenter was capped 80 times.

Currently, the Canada Rugby team includes a number of top players who also represent club sides in Europe's top competitions. For example, lock Evan Olmstead plays for Newcastle in the English Premiership and both Tyler Ardron and Matt Tierney play for Castres in the Top 14.