The Canadian men's rugby team renews hostilities this weekend with Spain, who prevailed by a point in a 2025 exhibition match in Edmonton.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
The Canadian men’s rugby team kicks off its 2026 schedule against Spain in Edmonton on Saturday, with one eye on next year’s World Cup in Australia.
The Clarke Stadium contest is part of World Rugby’s inaugural Nations Cup, the second-tier companion to the elite Nations Championship. The two new biennial competitions feature the 24 teams that have qualified for the World Cup.
As such, it’s a useful measuring stick for Canada coach Stephen Meehan as he sorts through the talent at his disposal.
The Canadian men have not played since last November when they lost to No. 22 Romania (31-21), No. 13 Georgia (38-17) and No. 14 Portugal (33-27) in Europe.
“Hopefully, we can just continue to make some gains on what we’ve been doing, particularly over the last six months, from that November tour,” Meehan said in an interview.
“We’re in a much better place in terms of understanding how we want to go about things and what we’re trying to work on now, obviously, than what we were 12 months ago. I think everybody feels that, the staff and the players.”
Meehan has plans for each of Canada’s three sets of games this year, in July, September and November, looking ahead to the World Cup that kicks off in October, 2027.
“We are certainly changing things in each block, so we know what works for us and what doesn’t when we go into next year. Because we don’t want any surprises next year and we certainly won’t want to be experimenting on anything,” explained the Australian coach. “So, this is the year to look at things a little bit differently, try a couple of bits and pieces and then try to determine what’s best for us.”
On the plus side, Meehan says the players’ fitness has improved over last year.
After No. 17 Spain, the 25th-ranked Canadians continue Nations Cup play against Portugal on July 11, also at Clarke Stadium, and No. 24 Zimbabwe on July 18 at Winnipeg’s Princess Auto Stadium.
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With some two dozen players unavailable through injury or other commitments, Meehan has had to juggle his roster. Fly-half Robbie Povey and lock Reegan O’Gorman are the latest to drop out through injury, with Lockie Kratz and Daragh Doyle as late additions.
The starting 15 goes into Saturday’s match with a combined 347 caps. The bulk of the experience is in the forward pack, which totals 235 caps, with Lucas Rumball (65), Cole Keith (44) and Tyler Ardron (39) accounting for 148 of them.
Hooker Andrew Quattrin debuts as captain, chosen in place of Rumball who is unavailable for the Portugal match because of a long-standing commitment. Quattrin, who earns his 30th cap, plays his club rugby for US Carcassonne in the French second tier.
Centre Josh McIndoe makes his debut with two more uncapped players, Doyle and centre Jacob Ince, on the bench. All three are graduates of the Canadian under-20 team.
Canada came close to upsetting Spain last July in Edmonton, losing 24-23 on a last-minute penalty. Meehan expects another stiff challenge from opportunistic Spain on Saturday, citing its set-piece strength at the scrum and lineout as well as an effective kick-chase.
“They’re pretty formidable,” he said. “They’re difficult to break down. But we’ll see. We’ve got some strategies, some tactics up our sleeves to try and negate their strengths.”
Spain placed third at the Rugby Europe Championship in March, behind runner-up Portugal and Georgia.
The Spanish men missed out on the 2023 World Cup after a 10-point deduction from World Rugby for fielding an ineligible player dropped them down the European qualifying table. Romania took their place at the tournament.
Spain was also disqualified from 2019 World Cup qualifying for fielding ineligible players.
Spain’s lone previous appearance at the World Cup was in 1999 when it failed to advance to the knockout rounds after losing to Uruguay, South Africa and Scotland.
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Canada has been to every edition of the tournament, save 2023 when it failed to qualify. Its best showing was in 1991 when it made the quarter-finals.
In other Nations Cup tournament action in Canada, it’s No. 19 Tonga versus Spain on July 11 in Edmonton and Tonga versus Portugal on July 18 in Winnipeg.
Each of the Nations Cup teams will play six matches – three in July and three in November. Canada heads to Europe in November to face Georgia, Romania and No. 23 Hong Kong.
The elite Nations Championship features the top 12 teams in the world with Northern Hemisphere teams England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales facing the Southern Hemisphere group’s Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, plus two invitational teams in Japan and Fiji.
In September, Canada will play No. 12 Japan in Niigata, renewing a rugby rivalry that dates back to their first meeting in Vancouver in 1930. The Canadian men will also play No. 9 Fiji and a third team, possibly the 16th-ranked U.S., in Asia in a truncated version of the Pacific Nations Cup.
In other news, Picton Investments is upping its sponsorship deal with Rugby Canada, becoming the front-of-jersey sponsor for both the men’s and women’s 15s teams though 2027.
The Toronto-based investment company has been a sponsor of Rugby Canada since the start of the year. Its name will continue to grace the back of the men’s and women’s sevens sides with Velocity Trade, a global equity, foreign exchange and precious metals broker dealer, as the sevens’ front-of-jersey sponsor.
The Canadian 15s teams have been without a sponsor on the front of their jerseys for several years.