Churchill Cup History

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Churchill Cup History

The Churchill Cup held annual in June, that is contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams from a wide array of countries; in 2010. The invited teams are from France, Russia, and Uruguay. The Churchill Cup winners for 2009 were Ireland A, now known as Ireland Wolfhounds.

Name
The tournament is named after British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Overview

The Churchill Cup 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.

In the year 2004 New Zealand was invited, being represented by the New Zealand Maori men's team and the women's representative team. 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.

The competition was 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.

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 the year 2007, the tournament was 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 would be competing in the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.

Concept

In the year 2004 the decision was made to expand the competition to four 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 were invited and sent their A side, which provided great entertainment for the fans and a true test of rugby for the founding Nations in the Churchill Cup.

Teams
As of 2010

# Canada (first team) : 2003–present.
# United States (first team) : 2003–present.
# England Saxons (second team) : 2003–present. # France A (second team) : 2010–present.
# Russia (first team) : 2010–present.
# Uruguay (first team) : 2010–present.

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.

Former teams
# New Zealand Maori (consisting of New Zealand players of Maori heritage) : 2004, 2006–2007.
# Scotland A (second team) : 2006–2008.
# Argentina Argentina XV (second or third team, depending on year) : 2005, 2008–2009.
# Ireland Ireland A (second team) : 2006–2009.# Georgia (first team) : 2009.

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. During the halftime break of an Eskimos football game in 2003, the Canadian Sevens squad put on a display of rugby to impress the crowd. For the Barclays Churchill Cup finals a crowd is expected of some 25,000.

Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara, California.

Named after former Santa Clara football coach, Lawrence T. "Buck" Shaw. The stadium has seen many of that university sporting 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.

York Stadium - Toronto.