International Men's Rugby Returns to Langford in February

Americas Rugby Championship to feature home games against Rugby World tournament newcomers Uruguay and Brazil ______

For Immediate Release LANGFORD, BC – December 9, 2015:

The Americas Rugby Championship has announced the dates and cities for the 2016 updated competition featuring six of North and South America's top-ranked international teams.

Highlighting the schedule will be home games for 's senior men's fifteen at Westhills Stadium, Langford, BC, on February 6th against Uruguay and February 20th against Brazil. Kickoff times for both games will be at 4:00pm, with tickets available at events.rugbycanada.ca

Initially agreed to between executive members of the respective unions under the guidance of the Pan American Rugby Association (PARA), the groundbreaking Americas Rugby Championship will provide Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the U.S., and Uruguay with five additional rankings tests annually.

"We are delighted to be able to announce the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship that will take place next year," PARA Chairman Agustín Pichot said. "This could not have happened without the hard work and cooperation of all six rugby unions involved.

"We would also like to thank for their support. This is a very exciting time for the Americas, with our first truly international tournament, as rugby continues to thrive and prosper in this region."

Kicking off the weekend of Feb. 6 in British Columbia, Canada; Houston, United States; and Santiago, Chile; the Americas Rugby Championship will offer one of the longest assemblies for the six national teams leading to the final round of matches the weekend of March 5. Brazil, Chile, and the U.S. will each host three matches, while Argentina, Canada, and Uruguay will host two home matches apiece.

Canada will host Uruguay on Feb. 6 and Brazil on Feb. 20. Both games will be played at Westhills Stadium in Langford at the home of Rugby Canada’s Centre of Excellence. Canada will travel to the USA, Chile and Argentina for their remaining three fixtures.

"The Americas Rugby Championship is an important opportunity for Canada's men's fifteens squad to come together and build on the ,” Gareth Rees, Rugby Canada’s National Program Manager, said. “A lack of high-level competition matches for Canadian players was recognized as an issue through the Rugby World Cup review process and these Test matches are an important first step to preparing our next generation of athletes.

“Rugby Canada welcomes the opportunity to renew rivalries with the USA and our South American friends."

The Americas Rugby Cup will provide Canadian fans an opportunity to see Canada’s Senior Men’s team in action for the first time since the Rugby World Cup. Despite a winless campaign, Canada showed that they were able to compete with the best nations in the world. The American Rugby Championship will provide Canada with an annual series of high quality matches as preparation towards the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan gets underway.

Information regarding specific dates, match times, and broadcast coverage for the historic Panamerican tournament will be released in due course.

Americas Rugby Championship | 2016 Competition Calendar (Home v Away)

Round 1 – Weekend of Feb. 6 -7, 2016 Canada v Uruguay at Westhills Stadium, Langford, BC February 6, kickoff at 4:00pm

USA v Argentina Chile v Brazil

Round 2 – Weekend of Feb. 13 - 14, 2016 USA v Canada Argentina v Chile

2

Brazil v Uruguay

Round 3 – Weekend of Feb. 20 -21, 2016 Canada v Brazil at Westhills Stadium, Langford, BC February 20, kickoff at 4:00pm

USA v Chile Uruguay v Argentina

Round 4 – Weekend of Feb. 27 - 28, 2016 Argentina v Canada Brazil v USA Chile v Uruguay

Round 5 – Weekend of March 5 - 6, 2016 Chile v Canada Uruguay v USA Brazil v Argentina ______For additional details, contact: Bryan Kelly

Manager, Communications and Media Relations Rugby Canada 3024 Glen Lake Road Langford, British Columbia, Canada V9B 4B4 Tel. 250.418.8998 ext. 314 Fax 250.386.3810 Cell. 250.216.5272 [email protected] www.rugbycanada.ca

For additional details about the British Columbia Rugby Union, visit:

Web: bcrugby.com Twitter: twitter.com/bcrugbyunion Facebook: facebook.com/bcrugbyunion

3

--30--

4