The British Columbia Bears (formerly Pacific Tyee) are the senior men's representative rugby team for British Columbia. They were founded in 2009 to compete in the Americas Rugby Championship against other representative teams from Canada, Argentina, and the United States.[1] In their inaugural season, the Bears went undefeated in round robin play against other Canadian teams and only fell to the Argentina Jaguars in the ARC Final.
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Beginning in 2010 the team, along with the Ontario Blues, The Rock, and the Prairie Wolf Pack, have participated in the newly formed Canadian Rugby Championship. This offshoot of the Americas Rugby Championship sees these teams once again compete in a round robin schedule.
Home grounds
editThe Bears do not have a permanent home ground but play at various fields around British Columbia. In their inaugural year the team hosted matches at Brockton Oval in Vancouver and MacDonald Park in Victoria as well as at Westhills Stadium (then known as Bear Mountain Stadium) in Langford. The 2010 season saw the Bears play exclusively at Klahanie Park in West Vancouver. 2011 saw the team again play a majority of their home games at Klahanie with the exception of one match being played at the Apple Bowl in Kelowna. For the 2013 season, the Bears played exclusively at Westhills Stadium.
Season records
editAmericas Rugby Championship
edit| Season | Position | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Bonus | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 1st (Round-robin) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | |
| Canadian final | BC Bears 12 – 8 Ontario Blues | |||||||
| ARC final | Argentina Jaguars 35 – 11 BC Bears | |||||||
Canadian Rugby Championship
edit| Season | Position | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Bonus | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 2nd | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 2012 | 4th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 2013 | 2nd | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 2014 | 3rd | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 2015 | 3rd | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2016 | 4th | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 2017 | 1st | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| 2018 | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
Best in the West
edit| Season | Position | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1st | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 50 |
Honours
edit- Canadian Rugby Championship
- Americas Rugby Championship
- Champions: 0
- Runners-up: 1 (2009)
Current squad
editSquad for the 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship season
Props
- Noah Barker
- John Braddock
- Nik Hildebrand
- Clint Lemkus
- Liam Murray
Hookers
- Paul Ahn
- Steven Ng
- Blake van Heyningen
Locks
- Mike Finnemore
- Craig McLaughlin
- Shea Wakefield
- Cam Polson
Loose forwards
- Dustin Dobravsky
- Luke Campbell
- Jason Hignell
- Travis Larsen
- Connor McCann
- Oliver Nott
- Nathan Stewart
Half backs
- James Pitblado
- Jorden Sandover-Best
Fly halves
Centres
- Doug Fraser
- Mike Nieuwenhuysen
- Josh Thiel
Wings
- Jared Douglas
- Fraser Hurst
- Isaac Kaay
- Clayton Meeres
Full backs
- Sean Ferguson
- Aaron McLelland
Notable players
editCanada
editThe following players have represented Canada at full international level.
- Ryan Ackerman
- Noah Barker
- George Barton
- Connor Braid
- Mike Burak
- Luke Campbell
- Admir Cejvanovic
- Liam Chisholm
- Luke Cudmore
- Thyssen de Goede
- Dustin Dobravsky
- Joe Dolesau
- Sean Duke
- Giuseppe du Toit
- Brian Erichsen
- Ed Fairhurst
- Aaron Flagg
- Doug Fraser
- Mike Fuailefau
- Mitch Gudgeon
- Ryan Hamilton
- Brodie Henderson
- Nathan Hirayama
- Jake Ilnicki
- Harry Jones
- Adam Kleeberger
- Anthony Luca
- Phil Mack
- Jason Marshall
- Callum Morrison
- Oliver Nott
- Cameron Pierce
- Pat Riordan
- Jorden Sandover-Best
- Theo Sauder
- David Spicer
- Brock Staller
- Josh Thiel
- Conor Trainor
- Sean White
- Eric Wilson
Overseas Representatives
editThe following players have achieved representative honours at an international level.
Andrey Proshin
Games played against international opposition
edit| Year | Date | Opponent | Result | Score | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 17 October |  Argentina Jaguars | Loss | 11–35 | 2009 Americas Rugby Championship Final |
| 2009 | 24 November |  Russia | Win | 38–16 | 2009 Russia tour of Canada |
| 2010 | 12 June |  England Counties | Loss | 7–46 | 2010 Tour of Canada |
| 2010 | 18 June |  Royal New Zealand Navy (HMNZS Te Kaha) | Win | 71–5 | Part of Canadian Navy's Centennial |
| 2014 | 16 July | Buenos Aires | Loss | 7–38 | BC Bears 2014 South American Tour |
| 2014 | 19 July |  Uruguay | Win | 21–20 | BC Bears 2014 South American Tour |
| 2016 | 10 August | North Otago | Tie | 22–22 | North Otago 2016 Canadian Tour |
| 2018 | 23 June |  Royal Air Force | Win | 23-19 | RAF 2018 Western Canada Tour |
Head coaching history
edit| Name | Years | Record | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike James | 2009-2010 | 6-5 | 54.5% |
| Kris de Scossa | 2011 | 2-3 | 40.0% |
| John MacMillan | 2012 | 1-4 | 20.0% |
| Jim Dixon | 2013–2014 | 4-7 | 36.4% |
| Dean Murten | 2015 | 2-3 | 40.0% |
| Gabriel Fulcher | 2016 | 0-5 | 0.0% |
| Tony Healy | 2017 | 4-0 | 100% |
| Dean Murten | 2018 | 1-1 | 50% |
| Scott Manning | 2018 | 1-1 | 50% |
| James Thompson | 2019 | 1-1 | 50% |
References
edit- ^ "British Columbia Rugby Union Announces BC Bears Franchise". B.C. Rugby Union. 20 August 2009. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
External links
edit- British Columbia Rugby Union website
- CRC Official Website Archived 2015-04-30 at the Wayback Machine