North America 4, also known as IRB North America 4, was a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

competition launched in 2006. The competition was contested between two newly formed representative teams from each of Canada and the United States. The competition was funded by the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

(IRB), and was part of their three-year global strategic investment programme which was designed to increase the competitiveness of international rugby union in Canada and the United States. The tournament was intended to act as a pathway to more exposure of domestic players and the national sides (

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

). The North America 4 has since been replaced by the

Americas Rugby Championship The Americas Rugby Championship, often informally called the Americas' Six Nations, was an annual international rugby tournament between six North and South American nations: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States and Uruguay. Origin ...

as of September 7, 2009. The new tournament features six teams, including four provincial sides from Canada playing in the

Canadian Rugby Championship The Canadian Rugby Championship (CRC) (french: Championnat provincial du Canada de rugby à XV) was a Canadian amateur rugby union competition, partially funded by the World Rugby. It was the highest level of men's domestic rugby in Canada. Four r ...

joined by the Argentina Jaguars and USA 'A'.

Teams

The teams competing are

Canada East Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new ...

and

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

, and the

USA Falcons The USA Falcons was one of two national representative rugby union teams from the United States that competed in the North America 4 Series. History Formation The Falcons were founded in 2005 by the NA4 Committee. The NA4 Committee is made up o ...

and USA Hawks. Each team was founded in 2005 by the NA4 committee, comprising the IRB, Rugby Canada and USA Rugby.

Canada West

Coached by Tony Medina, who is assisted by Ian Hyde-Lay, Canada West won the inaugural competition. Captained by scrum-half Ed Fairhust the team won their first match 98-0, the largest win of the competition. Fairhurst has represented Canada at test level, as well, the team has a front row with test experience.

Canada East

Coached by Simon Blanks, with assistants Jeff Prince and Greg Thaggard, Canada East finished third in 2006 after winning the consolation final. The team was captained by Derek Daypuck who also finished their leading points scorer on 78.

USA Falcons

Coached by Jim Love who is assisted by Kevin Battle. Their captain was Patrick Bell. The team finished runners-up after losing the competition final.

USA Hawks

They are coached by Pete Steinberg, assisted by Bernie Hogan and Gordon Macpherson. The team finished last in the competition. They finished with one win from their seven matches.

Structure

The tournament consists of twelve games played over two legs. Each team plays the other twice, the top two teams then play in the competition final, the other two in the consolation final. Points are awarded for a win or a draw, four points for a win, two for a draw. Bonus points are also awarded, one for scoring four tries or more in a match, also one for losing by less than seven points. If two teams have the same number of points at the end of round robin play, then the team with the greatest difference in points scored over points conceded is ranked higher. The competition is run by the NA 4 committee, which is made up of the IRB,

Rugby Canada Rugby Canada is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in Canada. Rugby Canada was incorporated in 1974, and stems from the Canadian Rugby Football Union, a body established in 1884 that now governs amateur Canadian football a ...

and

USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...

, who operate and finance the competition.

History

The IRB planned to invest $

CAN Can may refer to: Containers * Aluminum can * Drink can * Oil can * Steel and tin cans * Trash can * Petrol can * Metal can (disambiguation) Music * Can (band), West Germany, 1968 ** ''Can'' (album), 1979 * Can (South Korean band) Other * C ...

3.12 million over a three-year period to establish the competition as part of the "Tier 2 initiative", which aims to promote rugby in countries where the sport is less popular. The tournament was created to provide an elite level of rugby below the international level for both Canada and the United States. The IRB and representatives from both Rugby Canada and USA Rugby held meetings during September 2005 in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

to finalise the inaugural tournament. The 2006 competition was held in both

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. British Columbia hosted the first leg in May, 2006, and Ohio hosted the return leg two months later, in July. It was hoped that the competition would introduce professional rugby to North America. It was proposed that by 2008, cities and private owners would take ownership of the franchises. It was also proposed that the competition would expand to six teams, and then eight. Two teams were expected to be added in 2008, likely one each from Canada and the USA.

Results

References

External links

Official website
{{Rugby union in the United States Rugby union competitions in Canada Defunct rugby union competitions in the United States