The Vancouver Highlanders are a semi-professional rugby union team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
History Founded by Curry Hitchborn and Ralph McRae in 2023, with their first game coming in June 2024 a double header against the Barbados national side and a Canada Select 'XV'. Ralph McRae is the financial backing of the club. Players who sign on will be guided to play for local clubs during the regular British Columbia season, as the Highlanders will play in the traditional rugby off season not playing in a conventional rugby league instead playing on the Rugby Players’ Challenge Summer Series.
2024 season
Regular season DateOpponentHome/AwayLocationResultRef.28 June BarbadosHomeBurnaby Lake Rugby Club44–1228 June Canada Select 'XV'HomeBurnaby Lake Rugby Club44–3320 July GermanyHomeBurnaby Lake Rugby Club30–263 August Brazil XVHomeBurnaby Lake Rugby Club77–717 August Canada XVHomeBurnaby Lake Rugby Club23–38
Current squad Squad for 2024 Rugby Players’ Challenge Summer Series Props
Cole Kelly Griffin Phillipson Theo Espagnol* Conor O'Flaherty* Payton Teneycke Simeon John Ed Wallin Finlay Kennedy*
Hookers
Jacob Bossi Sam Mace Josh Olver
Locks
Donald Carson Thomas Davidson Kaden Duguid Caden Wilson Asfand Saeed Brian Ndirangu Back-row
Matt Klimchuk Joe Locke Ollie Nott Saba Shubitidze Jake Thiel Relmu Wilson-Valdes Callum Brown Liam Kinghorn Conall Henchy
Scrum-halves
Jacob Bourne Keegan Neary Reid Watkins
Fly-halves
James Biss* Mike Moloney* Josh Thiel (c) Centres
Giuseppe du Toit Sion Griffiths Talon McMullin Hayden Mulgrew Melani Nanai
Outside Backs
Noah Bain Lenny Bondudau D'Shawn Bowen Nico Leonard Alastair Marshall Nick Blain Takoda McMullinKey
Senior 15s internationally capped players are listed in bold. * denotes players qualified to play for Canada on dual nationality or residency grounds.
Club staff
Rugby Department RoleNameDirector of Sports Operations Randall Barton
First Team Coaching RoleNameHead Coach Tom LarischAssistant Coach Bill Chamberlain
Notable players
Internationals
Simeon John Donald Carson Matt Klimchuk Ollie Nott Reid Watkins Josh Thiel Giuseppe du Toit Talon McMullin Takoda McMullin Saba Shubitidze Brian Ndirangu
See also Rugby union in Canada
References
External links Official Website