The Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship was developed in 2016 and saw its inaugural tournament in 2017. While there were numerous corporate sponsors involved, the primary financial sponsor was the Canadian Rugby Foundation, with its Chair Mike Holmes one of four founders, along with long-time University of Victoria coach Doug Tate, Bishop's University alumnus Keith Labbett, and current Foundation Executive Director Jeff Chan. Prior to 2017 there had been no national championship for University Men's XVs Rugby, as there is for Women under the U SPORTS umbrella, so the CUMRC was established to fill that gap, and has also encouraged additional university teams to step up and compete to represent their regions.
An application has been submitted to U SPORTS to add Men's XVs Rugby to its portfolio of national university sports, and a decision on this is expected in the summer of 2022.
The trophy at the CUMRC tournament was named for Spence McTavish, a long-time UBC player, coach, general manager and university rugby supporter. Spence McTavish Bio
TEAMS
Since 2017 when 29 teams in 4 regions across Canada competed to qualify for the CUMRC tournament, the number of teams has grown gradually each year to the point where 34 teams in 5 regions - BC, Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic - will be competing to qualify for the 2022 CUMRC tournament hosted by the University of British Columbia in Vancouver BC. New in 2022 are the Carleton Ravens and the Memorial Seahawks.
LINKS TO UNIVERSITY TEAM WEBPAGES
TO SUPPORT THE CUMRC, DONATE BELOW:
