History of rugby union matches between Canada and the United States
Canada and the United States have played each other a total of 66 times, with Canada winning 39 tests, the United States winning 25, and two matches resulting in a draw. Historically, Canada have dominated the rivalry. However, recently the results have been in favor of USA, who won 12 of 14 matches between 2014 and 2021, the same amount of victories as they had in the previous 37 years.
The first ever match occurred in 1977 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby , British Columbia , Canada . Canada won the match 17–6.[ 1] The United States' first win came the following year in Baltimore winning 12–7.[ 2]
Since their first match in 1977, the United States and Canada played on another nearly every year, with the exception of Covid-19 pandemic restricted years. In recent years they have played on a home and away basis, with many of these meetings serving as qualification rounds for the Rugby World Cup .
From 2013 to 2015 and in 2019, Canada and the United States played every June in the tournament now known as the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup , along with Japan , Fiji , Tonga , and Samoa .[ 3] The 2024 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup saw the return of both the USA and Canada.[ 3]
Defunct tournaments
In 1996, Canada and United States played in the Pacific-Rim Championship along with Hong Kong and Japan .[ 3] The 1999 edition saw the addition of Fiji , Samoa and Tonga .[ 3] The tournament folded in 2001.[ 3] Alongside the Pacific-Rim Championship, the sides also competed in the Pan-American Championship until 2003.
In 2003 the Super Cup formed and was contested between Japan , Russia and the United States . In 2004 they were joined by Canada . The tournament was only contested for 3 years as it folded in 2005 with Canada the final champions. In 2003, the Churchill Cup began a tournament in which Canada and the United States would play A sides from Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. The tournament folded in 2011 prior to the 2011 Rugby World Cup .[ 4]
Between 2016 and 2019, the two countries have played in the Americas Rugby Championship alongside the senior teams of Brazil , Chile , and Uruguay , plus Argentina's second national side, Argentina XV .
Summary
Overview
Details
Played
Won by Canada
Won by United States
Drawn
Canada points
United States points
In Canada
35
25
9
1
840
598
In United States
26
10
15
1
514
520
Neutral venue
5
4
1
0
159
108
Overall
66
39
25
2
1,513
1,226
Records
Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.
Record
Canada
United States
Longest winning streak
7 (11 July 2009–21 June 2014)
6 (1 July 2017–4 September 2021)
Most points for
Home
56 (12 August 2006)
52 (1 July 2017)
Away
52 (2 June 2007)
51 (18 February 2017)
Largest winning margin
Home
49 (12 August 2006)
36 (1 July 2017)
Away
42 (2 June 2007)
25 (23 June 2018)
Attendance
Up to date as of 1 September 2024.
Total attendance*
170,327
Average attendance*
5,678
Highest attendance
15,000 Canada 19–20 United States 26 June 2005
*Excludes 36 matches in which no attendance was reported
Results
No.
Date
Venue
Score
Winner
Competition
Attendance
Reference
1
21 May 1977
Swangard Stadium , British Columbia
17–6
Canada
6,000
[ 1]
2
28 May 1978
Baltimore , Maryland
12–7
United States
[ 2]
3
9 June 1979
Varsity Stadium , Toronto
19–12
Canada
[ 5] [ 6]
4
8 June 1980
Saranac Lake Park , New York
0–16
Canada
[ 7]
5
6 June 1981
Kingsland, Calgary
6–3
Canada
[ 8]
6
12 June 1982
Bleecker Stadium , New York
3–3
draw
[ 9]
7
11 June 1983
Swangard Stadium , Burnaby
15–9
Canada
[ 10]
8
9 June 1984
Rockne Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
21–13
United States
[ 11]
9
16 November 1985
Thunderbird Stadium , Vancouver
21–10
Canada
[ 12]
10
8 November 1986
Arizona Stadium , Tucson, Arizona
16–27
Canada
4,500
[ 13]
11
10 May 1987
Thunderbird Stadium , Vancouver
33–9
Canada
[ 14]
12
14 November 1987
Royal Athletic Park , Victoria, British Columbia
20–12
Canada
[ 15]
13
11 June 1988
Saranac Lake Park , New York
28–16
United States
[ 16]
14
23 September 1989
Varsity Stadium , Toronto
21–3
Canada
1991 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
[ 17]
15
9 June 1990
Chief Sealth, Seattle
14–12
United States
1991 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
[ 18]
16
8 June 1991
Kingsland, Calgary
34–15
Canada
[ 19]
17
13 June 1992
Observatory Park, Denver
9–32
Canada
[ 20]
18
19 June 1993
Winnipeg , Manitoba
20–9
Canada
[ 21]
19
21 May 1994
George Allen Field , Long Beach, California
10–15
Canada
[ 22]
20
9 September 1995
Fletcher's Fields , Markham, Ontario
14–15
United States
[ 23]
21
11 May 1996
Boxer Stadium , San Francisco, California
19–12
United States
1996 Pacific-Rim Championship
3,500
[ 24]
22
18 May 1996
Thunderbird Stadium , Vancouver
24–20
Canada
[ 25] [ 26]
23
18 September 1996
Mohawk Sports Park , Hamilton, Ontario
23–18
Canada
1996 Pan-American Championship
[ 27] [ 28]
24
10 May 1997
Thunderbird Stadium , Vancouver
53–12
Canada
1997 Pacific-Rim Championship
5,000
[ 29]
25
28 June 1997
Boxer Stadium , San Francisco, California
11–22
Canada
1,800
[ 30]
26
23 May 1998
Thunderbird Stadium , Vancouver
17–15
Canada
1998 Pacific-Rim Championship
[ 31] [ 32]
27
6 June 1998
Burlington, Vermont
3–37
Canada
4,300
[ 33]
28
18 August 1998
Club Atlético San Isidro , Buenos Aires , Argentina
31–14
Canada
1998 Pan-American Championship
3,000
[ 34]
29
19 June 1999
Fletcher's Fields , Markham, Ontario
17–18
United States
1999 Pacific-Rim Championship
4,500
[ 35]
30
3 June 2000
Manchester, New Hampshire
34–25
United States
2000 Pacific-Rim Championship
[ 36]
31
19 May 2001
Richardson Memorial Stadium , Kingston, Ontario
19–10
Canada
2001 Pan-American Championship
7,155
[ 37]
32
29 June 2002
Fletcher's Fields , Markham, Ontario
26–9
Canada
2003 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
2,200
[ 38]
33
13 July 2002
Rockne Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
13–36
Canada
2,500
[ 39]
34
18 June 2003
Thunderbird Stadium , Vancouver
11–16
United States
2003 Churchill Cup
3,200
[ 40]
35
27 August 2003
José Amalfitani Stadium , Buenos Aires , Argentina
20–35
United States
2003 Pan-American Championship
[ 41]
36
27 May 2004
National Olympic Stadium , Tokyo , Japan
23–20
Canada
2004 Super Cup
3,500
[ 42]
37
19 June 2004
Commonwealth Stadium , Edmonton
32–29
Canada
2004 Churchill Cup
5,000
[ 43]
38
25 May 2005
National Olympic Stadium , Tokyo , Japan
30–26
Canada
2005 Super Cup
[ 44]
39
26 June 2005
Commonwealth Stadium , Edmonton
19–20
United States
2005 Churchill Cup
15,000
[ 45]
40
17 June 2006
Commonwealth Stadium , Edmonton
33–18
Canada
2006 Churchill Cup
[ 46]
41
12 August 2006
Swilers Rugby Park , St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
56–7
Canada
2007 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
5,000
[ 47] [ 48]
42
2 June 2007
Twickenham Stadium , London , England
52–10
Canada
2007 Churchill Cup
[ 49]
43
21 June 2008
Toyota Park , Bridgeview, Illinois
10–26
Canada
2008 Churchill Cup
[ 50]
44
4 July 2009
Blackbaud Stadium , Charleston, South Carolina
12–6
United States
2011 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
3,836
[ 51] [ 52]
45
11 July 2009
Ellerslie Rugby Park , Edmonton
41–18
Canada
[ 53]
46
6 August 2011
BMO Field , Toronto
28–22
Canada
2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches
10,621
[ 54] [ 55]
47
13 August 2011
Infinity Park , Glendale, Colorado
7–27
Canada
2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches
5,000
[ 56] [ 57] [ 58]
48
9 June 2012
Richardson Memorial Stadium , Kingston, Ontario
28–25
Canada
2012 June rugby union tests
7,521
[ 59] [ 60]
49
25 May 2013
Ellerslie Rugby Park , Edmonton, Alberta
16–9
Canada
2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup
3,526
[ 61]
50
17 August 2013
Blackbaud Stadium , Charleston, South Carolina
9–27
Canada
2015 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
5,258
[ 62]
51
24 August 2013
BMO Field , Toronto
13–11
Canada
10,207
[ 63]
52
21 June 2014
Cal Expo Facility, Sacramento, California
38–35
United States
2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup
7,804
[ 64] [ 65] [ 66]
53
3 August 2015
Swangard Stadium , Burnaby
15–13
United States
2015 Pacific Nations Cup 5th Place play-off
[ 67]
54
22 August 2015
Twin Elm Rugby Park , Ottawa , Ontario
23–41
United States
2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up
5,168
[ 68] [ 69]
55
13 February 2016
Dell Diamond , Round Rock, Texas
30–22
United States
2016 Americas Rugby Championship
7,415
[ 70] [ 71]
56
18 February 2017
Swangard Stadium , Burnaby, British Columbia
34–51
United States
2017 Americas Rugby Championship
3,416
[ 72]
57
24 June 2017
Tim Hortons Field , Hamilton, Ontario
28–28
draw
2019 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
13,187
[ 73] [ 74]
58
1 July 2017
Torero Stadium , San Diego, California
52–16
United States
[ 75] [ 76] [ 77]
59
10 February 2018
Papa Murphy's Park , Sacramento, California
29–10
United States
2018 Americas Rugby Championship
[ 78] [ 79] [ 80]
60
23 June 2018
Wanderers Grounds , Halifax, Nova Scotia
17–42
United States
2018 June test
6,213
[ 81] [ 82]
61
8 March 2019
Starfire Sports , Tukwila, Washington
30–25
United States
2019 Americas Rugby Championship
[ 83] [ 84] [ 85]
62
27 July 2019
Infinity Park , Glendale, Colorado
47–19
United States
2019 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup
5,000
[ 86] [ 87] [ 88]
63
7 September 2019
BC Place , Vancouver, British Columbia
15–20
United States
RWC warm-up match
[ 89] [ 90]
64
4 September 2021
Swiler's Rugby Park, St. John's, Newfoundland
34–21
Canada
2023 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
[ 91] [ 92]
65
11 September 2021
Infinity Park , Glendale, Colorado
38–16
United States
[ 93] [ 94]
66
31 August 2024
Dignity Health Sports Park , Los Angeles, California
28–15
United States
Pacific Nations Cup
[ 95] [ 96] [ 97]
See also
References
Players Competitions and trophies Related teams Matches
By opponent World Cup qualifiers
Tours
Players Competitions and trophies Related teams Titles
Matches
List By opponent World Cup qualifiers
Tours