On May 10th, Canadian U20 men’s players convened at Shawnigan Lake School in British Columbia for a four-week intensive high performance camp that will lead into two matches against the United States for qualification for the World Rugby U20 Trophy.  

Head Coach Christiaan Esterhuizen is joined on the coaching staff by Pacific Pride assistant coach and former Canadian international Hubert Buydens, former Toronto Arrows, American Raptors and University of Guelph coach Cory Hector, and Arrows Academy and University of Toronto Backs/Kicking Coach Paddy Watson. Players will also work directly with High Performance Director Stephen Aboud and Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team Head Coach Kingsley Jones, Defence Coach John McFarland, and Attack Coach Phil Mack.  

The winner of the series versus the United States will join seven other teams in Edinburgh, Scotland from July 2 to 17 for the 2024 World Rugby U20 Trophy, the winner of which will earn promotion to the World Rugby U20 Championship for 2024. 

The focus of the U20 programming - an important step on the pathway towards the senior national teams - is the long-term development of the next generation of Canadian rugby players. As players are required to cover some of the costs related to their participation in the U20 program, all donations received will go to support the program and ultimately lower the costs for players to attend the camp and competitions.