New competition for North America

April 28, 2006

Rugby Planet reports:

New competition for North America

28/04/06

IRB's global strategic investment takes root

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced the schedule and format for the inaugural 'IRB North America 4' tournament that will involve representative sides from both Canada and USA.

The new cross-border competition will kick-off in British Columbia on May 20 and will be contested by four new representative sides - USA Hawks, USA Falcons, Canada East and Canada West.

The competition kicks-off on May 20 and will be spilt into two blocks of matches either side of the Churchill Cup with the first block being played in Canada and the second in the USA.

Each of the five rounds will be played back-to-back at the same venue and the new competition will culminate with a Grand Final on July 29 in Columbus, Ohio.

"The IRB North America 4 is an exciting new international representative competition involving around 120 of the best locally-based players from Canada and the USA," said Mark Egan, the IRB's Head of Rugby Services.

"It will provide the opportunity for future stars of the game to showcase their ability in a high-intensity, cross-border competition that will provide the perfect platform for players to push for a Test place.

"The IRB is committed to investing $1m to fund this regional tournament which is in addition to the $1m that is already being invested in both unions as part of the three-year $50m global strategic investment programme that was launched last August."

The IRB's global strategic investment programme involves a considerable number of high performance, tournament and infrastructure initiatives across the 17 Tier One and Tier Two unions that are all designed to increase the competitiveness of international rugby.

2006 IRB NORTH AMERICA 4 - SCHEDULE
(All times are local)

Canadian Series (British Columbia)

May 20: USA Falcons v Canada East, Rotary Stadium, Abbotsford (13:00)
May 20: USA Hawks v Canada West, Rotary Stadium, Abbotsford (15:00)

May 24: USA Falcons v USA Hawks, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (17.30)
May 24: Canada East v Canada West, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (19.30)

May 27: USA Falcons v Canada West, Centennial Stadium, Victoria (13:00)
May 27: USA Hawks v Canada East, Centennial Stadium, Victoria (15:00)

United States Series (Ohio)
(All times to be confirmed)

July 22: USA Falcons v Canada East, Ohio State University, Columbus
July 22: USA Hawks v Canada West, Ohio State University, Columbus

July 26: USA Falcons v USA Hawks, Ohio State University, Columbus
July 26: Canada East v Canada West, Ohio State University, Columbus

July 29: 3rd place play-off, Ohio State University, Columbus
July 29: Championship Final, Ohio State University, Columbus

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