Churchill Cup
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The Churchill Cup (referred to as Barclays Churchill Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament contested by representative men's and women's teams from Canada, England, and the United States, with three invited teams (originally one). The tournament is named after former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
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[edit] Overview
The tournament was first held in 2003 with only Canada, England and the USA taking part. The tournament was set up to improve the calibre and profile of rugby in North America, and also to help develop English players not yet part of the full national team. Because of the gap in skill levels, the England A side, rebranded in 2006 as England Saxons, took part instead of the full England men's side; however, the full England women's side participated.
In 2004, New Zealand was invited, being represented by the New Zealand Māori men's team and the women's representative team, the Black Ferns. In 2005, Argentina sent its A side to the men's competition. Originally, New Zealand Māori had been invited, but they declined because it would clash with their fixture with the British and Irish Lions. There was no women's competition in either 2005 or 2006, largely because of Canada's preparations to host the Women's Rugby World Cup in 2006.
Currently, the competition is scheduled only through 2007, as the original contract between Rugby Canada, the Rugby Football Union (England) and USA Rugby was a five-year deal. Under the agreement, Canada would host the first three events, while the USA had an option to host in 2006 and 2007. However, because USA Rugby is now involved in hosting the USA Sevens tournament in the IRB Sevens World Series, it allowed Canada to be the principal host in 2006. The 2006 competition saw matches in the USA for the first time, in San Francisco (more precisely, in the Silicon Valley city of Santa Clara), and three Canadian cities hosted matches: Edmonton, Toronto, and Ottawa.
The organizers increased the number of men's teams competing from four to six, effective with the 2006 competition. South Africa and Wales had expressed an interest, but Ireland and Scotland accepted invitations for 2006. Both sent A sides to the competition, and the New Zealand Māori returned that year as well.
In 2007, the Churchill Cup will be held in England for the first time. Both Rugby Canada and USA Rugby agreed to the one-time move largely because both countries' national teams will be competing in the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.[1]
[edit] Results
| Year | Venue(s) | Men's Winner | Women's Winner |
| 2003 | Vancouver | England A | England |
| 2004 | Calgary and Edmonton | New Zealand Māori | New Zealand |
| 2005 | Edmonton | England A | No competition |
| 2006 | Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, and San Francisco (Santa Clara) |
New Zealand Māori | No competition |
| 2007 | Stockport, Exeter, Henley, Northampton and London | To be determined | To be determined |
For detailed results from a given year's competition (including the current year's), please see the relevant year's tournament's article, where one exists.
[edit] Early history
The Churchill Cup event, named after former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, "Britain's Man of the Century", sees a five-year agreement amongst England, Canada and the USA with each forming part of the new company, "Churchill Cup Inc.". Former Prime Minister Churchill shared close ties with the United States - his mother was American - and with Canada during the Second World War, so using his name for this event seemed very appropriate.
[edit] Concept
Born of an English tour of North America in 2001, the Churchill Cup of Rugby came to fruition in 2003, in Vancouver. The tournament arises out of a 5 year agreement between Rugby Canada, Rugby USA and the Rugby Football Union (England) to hold an annual rugby tournament in North America originally intended to be played between the nations Senior Men's and Women's sides. Canada will host the event from 2003 to 2005, in 2003 and 2004 the event was held in Edmonton, Alberta. While and the US will have the option of picking uphosting the last 2 years of the tournament in 2006 and 2007, with the advent of the USA Sevens in Los Angeles and the reality of moving such an event, it is entirely likely that the event will remain in Canada, specifically Edmonton, through 2007. With respect to the Women's component, with Canada being awarded the 2006 Women's World Cup of Rugby, to be played in Edmonton and the Ottawa/Montreal region, it was felt that for 2005 and 2006 the Women's component should be removed, with the Women playing in the Canada Cup of Women's Rugby in Ottawa/Montreal in July of 2005 and the Women's World Cup itself in September of 2006 in Edmonton and Ottawa/Montreal.
In addition to the changes with respect to the Women's component, in 2004 the decision was made to expand the competition to 4 Nations with the inclusion of an invitational side, which in 2004 was the New Zealand Maori, who won the title in a spectacular overtime match with England. In 2005 Argentina have been selected as the invitation side, which provided great entertainment for the fans and a true test of rugby for the founding Nations in the Churchill Cup. Beyond 2005 there was talk of further expanding the event to perhaps six Nations, with three invitational sides participating. This expansion indeed occurred in 2006.
[edit] Purpose
North American rugby has often despaired in the lack of high quality competition on this continent. As other countries participate in the annual Tri-Nations or Six Nations tournaments, Canada and the US are left to schedule one off invitational games with other Nations, subject to other nations being able to accommodate such games in their schedules. In the Men's competition, the middle-power Canadian and American sides can test their mettle against some of the best players England has to offer, and now New Zealand and Argentina with the inclusion of an invitational side. The competition also allows England to develop players who do not regularly participate in the national squad.
[edit] Logistics
The 2003 inaugural tournament was played in Vancouver at Thunderbird Stadium. The 2004 Churchill Cup traveled east across the Canadian Rockies to Alberta where games were played in Calgary on the opening weekend and Edmonton for the finals. For 2005 the Churchill Cup was played entirely at Edmonton's 65,000 seat Commonwealth Stadium. The same was initially contemplated for 2006 and 2007, but that plan changed due to the expansion of the tournament in 2006 and logistical issues related to the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
[edit] Teams
As of 2006:
Rugby Canada (Canadian first team)
USA Rugby (US first team)
England Saxons (English second team)
New Zealand Māori (New Zealand team based on players with Maori ancestry)
Scottish Rugby Union (Scottish second team)
Irish Rugby Football Union (Irish second team)
The three founding members (Rugby Canada, USA Rugby and England Saxons) are permanently placed in the Churchill Cup with three additional teams selected for each tournament year.
Past national teams
Argentina national rugby union team (Los Pumas) (Argentine second team)
[edit] Locations
Commonwealth Stadium - Edmonton Alberta Canada
Located in Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta, Commonwealth Stadium is the venue for the Barclays Churchill Cup finals. Commonwealth is also the home of the Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos. During the halftime break of an Eskimos football game in 2003, the Canadian Seven's squad put on a display of rugby to impress the crowd. For the Barclays Churchill Cup finals a capacity crowd is expected of some 25 000.
Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara, California - "San Franciso"
Named after former Santa Clara football coach, Lawrence T. "Buck" Shaw. The stadium has seen many of that university sporting's achievements. Serving as the home for the Bronco soccer team, the 6,800-seat facility also housed Santa Clara baseball and football historically.
Twin Elm Rugby Park - Ottawa
With five rugby fields, 12 changing rooms, two lounges, a bar and spectator seating for hundreds of people. Situated in South Nepean, in the City of Ottawa, the facility is home to several local clubs, including the Ottawa Harlequins, the representative side for Eastern Ontario.
York Stadium - Toronto
[edit] See also
- 2006 Churchill Cup
- Argentina national rugby union team
- Canada national rugby union team
- England national rugby union team
- Ireland national rugby union team
- New Zealand Māori rugby union team
- Scotland national rugby union team
- United States national rugby union team
- Rugby union in Canada
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ England to host the Churchill Cup. BBC (2006-12-05). Retrieved on December 10, 2006.
[edit] External link
- Churchill Cup official site
