Canada got a look Monday at what awaits at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France and it’s a case of pick your poison.
The 23rd-ranked Canadian men will face either New Zealand or England in group play if they secure one of the two direct qualifying spots from the Americas for the 20-team showcase.
At Monday’s draw in Paris, Americas 1 was placed in Group A with third-ranked New Zealand, No. 4 France, No. 14 Italy and Africa 1 (which was Namibia at the 2019 tournament).
Americas 2 will play in Group D alongside No. 2 England, No. 8 Argentina, No. 10 Japan and Oceania 1 (No. 13 Tonga or No. 15 Samoa).
Group B, the only pool Canada could not land in, features defending champion and top-ranked South Africa, No. 5 Ireland, No. 7 Scotland (7), Asia/Pacific 1 and Europe 2.
Group C consists of No. 6 Australia, No. 9 Wales, No. 11 Fiji, Europe 1 and the winner of the final qualification tournament. Canada, which won the last-chance repechage last time out, could also end up in this group.
“I think they’re all looking pretty tough, aren’t they,” Canada coach Kingsley Jones said of the groups.
Jones has to consider both the skill and physicality of the opposition, given the sometimes short turnaround at the World Cup.
Group A is similar to Canada’s pool at the 2019 tournament in Japan with mercurial France replacing the powerful Springboks. The Canadian men (0-3-0) finished last in the pool (on point difference) behind tough opposition in New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Namibia. Canada’s final match against Namibia was called off due to Typhoon Hagibis.
The 2023 World Cup is scheduled to run Sept. 8 to Oct. 21 in nine stadiums.
Twelve teams have already qualified, by virtue of finishing in the top three of their pools at the 2019 tournament: South Africa, New Zealand, England, Wales, Ireland, France, Australia, Japan, Scotland, Argentina, Fiji and Italy.
Eight more countries will join them via regional qualifiers, including the Americas.
Qualifying for 2023 has seen various permutations in the region. Canadian officials had been led to believe it would involve results in the Americas Rugby Championship — which involves Canada, the U.S, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and an Argentina reserve side — over the next two years.
But the most recent Americas qualifying road map tweaks the traditional format.
Canada will face the 16th-ranked Americans home and away with the winner facing a South American tournament victor, likely No. 18 Uruguay, in the two-legged Americas 1 Playoff to determine who goes to the World Cup as Americas 1.
The Canada-U.S. loser will face a South American tournament runner-up, likely No. 26 Brazil or No. 29 Chile, in the Americas 2 Qualifier with the winner advancing to the Americas 2 Playoff against the Americas 1 Playoff loser. The winner of that series moves on as Americas 2 while the loser goes the final qualification tournament.
Jones hopes that process can start in the fall of 2021, allowing the teams that qualify more time to prepare for the World Cup.
The 12 teams already qualified were seeded for the draw based on World Rugby’s rankings as of Jan. 1, 2020 — in deference to the COVID-caused havoc on the international schedule — and placed in the first three four-country pots. Americas 1 was in pot 4 and Americas 2 in pot 5.
World Rugby has said in the future, seedings used for the draw will come much closer to the tournament itself.
Due to the pandemic, the Canadians have not played since their final outing at the 2019 World Cup — a 66-7 loss to South Africa on Oct. 8.
In the past, Americas qualifying has pitted Canada against the U.S. with the winner securing a World Cup berth and the loser facing a South American team for the second direct berth. The loser of that match has previously had a third shot via a last-chance repechage tournament.
Before the 2019 event, Canada had always secured its Americas berth at the first stage of qualifying.
But last time out, the Canadians lost qualifying series to the U.S. and Uruguay before winning the repechage tournament that also featured Germany, Hong Kong and Kenya.
The loss to the Americans cost Mark Anscombe his job as Canada coach in August 2017, with Jones taking over.
Monday’s draw was held in a largely empty Palais Brongniart, with French president Emmanuel Macron, wearing a mask, delivered welcoming words while physically distanced from the draw host.
World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont delivered his message remotely.
“Rugby World Cup 2023 will be great for rugby, but not only for rugby. In a world of change and uncertainty accelerated by the global pandemic, it’s important that major events are not just a celebration of sporting performance but a symbol of unity, diversity and change,” said Beaumont.
“It will be the best of rugby, and the best of France,” he added.
The Canadian men have made every World Cup field since the tournament debuted in 1987. But the team has only got out of the preliminary round once, in 1991 when it lost 29-13 to New Zealand in the quarterfinals.
2023 Rugby World Cup draw (with current world rankings)
Group A: New Zealand (3), France (4), Italy (14), America 1, Africa 1.
Group B: South Africa (1), Ireland (5), Scotland (7), Asia/Pacific 1 and Europe 2.
Group C: Wales (9), Australia (6), Fiji (11), Wales (9), Europe 1, winner of the final qualification tournament.
Group D: England (2), Japan (10), Argentina (8), Oceania 1, America 2.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2020
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
