LANGLEY, B.C. – The 2023 Raymond James Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship is only a week away as the top eight teams in the country prepare to descend upon Langley, where Trinity Western University will host the national championship tournament Nov. 15-19 at Willoughby Community Park Stadium.
The event kicks off Nov. 15 with the quarter-finals, before the semifinals Nov. 17 and the finals No. 19.
Tournament passes and individual game tickets are available HERE or at the door.
All matches will be streamed live for free at www.therugbynetwork.com.
The Spartans will be competing in the national championship tournament for the second time since the men’s rugby program was resurrected at TWU in 2019. Last year, TWU made its debut at the national tournament, earning a fourth-place finish that included a quarter-final upset of the top-seeded University of Victoria.
TWU will be one of three B.C.-based schools at this year’s tournament, joined by defending champion UBC and three-time finalist Victoria, who remains the only team other than UBC to take home the national crown (2019) since the tournament’s inception in 2017.
The University of Calgary will come to Langley as the champion from the Prairies, while the University of Ottawa won the Quebec title and will represent the RSEQ. Memorial University comes as the champion out of the Maritimes while the University of Guelph and Queen’s University will join the fray out of the OUA. Guelph and Queen’s play Thursday to determine the Ontario champion, but with two OUA berths in this year’s CUMRC, both teams have already qualified.
The tournament seeding and schedule will be announced Friday.
2023 CUMRC Schedule
Wednesday | Nov. 15
11:00AM – Quarter-Final
2:00PM – Quarter-Final
5:00PM – Quarter-Final (TWU match)
7:30PM – Quarter-Final
Friday | Nov. 17
11:00AM – Consolation Semifinal
2:00PM – Consolation Semifinal (TWU match if TWU loses its quarter-final)
5:00PM – Semifinal (TWU match if TWU wins its quarter-final)
7:30PM – Semifinal
Sunday | Nov. 19
9:00AM – 7th Place Match
11:30AM – 5th Place Match
2:00PM – Bronze Medal Match
5:00PM – Gold Medal Match
The 2023 event will mark the third time the CUMRC has been held in B.C., with Victoria hosting the event in 2018 and UBC hosting in 2022.
This will be the fourth time TWU has hosted a national championship tournament, but it will be the first time hosting the CUMRC. Previously, TWU hosted U SPORTS championship tournaments in women’s soccer (2008), men’s soccer (2009) and men’s volleyball (2011). In all three championships, the Spartans medalled at home, winning the national title in women’s soccer and men’s volleyball and winning a bronze medal in men’s soccer.
Since 2017 when 29 teams in four regions across Canada competed to qualify for the CUMRC tournament, the number of teams has grown gradually each year to the point where 33 teams in five regions – BC, Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic – competed to qualify for the 2023 CUMRC tournament hosted by Trinity Western University in Langley BC.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women’s rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men’s rugby and disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 33 Canada West team championships.
-TW-
