Churchill Cup - Overview

Overview

The tournament was first held in 2003 with only Canada, England and the USA taking part. The tournament was set up to improve the calibre and profile of rugby in North America, and also to help develop English players not yet part of the full national team. Because of the gap in skill levels, the England A side (second level, despite the 'A' moniker), rebranded in 2006 as England Saxons, took part instead of the full England men's side; however, the full England women's side participated.

In 2004, New Zealand were invited, being represented by the New Zealand Māori men's team and the women's representative team, the Black Ferns. In 2005, Argentina sent its A side to the men's competition. Originally, New Zealand Māori had been invited, but they declined because it would clash with their fixture with the British and Irish Lions. There was no women's competition in either 2005 or 2006, largely because of Canada's preparations to host the Women's Rugby World Cup in 2006.

Originally, the competition was scheduled only to 2007, as the original contract between Rugby Canada, the Rugby Football Union (England) and USA Rugby was a five-year deal. Under the agreement, Canada would host the first three events, while the USA had an option to host in 2006 and 2007. However, because USA Rugby became involved in hosting the USA Sevens tournament in the IRB Sevens World Series, it allowed Canada to be the principal host in 2006, although that competition saw matches in the USA for the first time, in San Jose (more precisely, in the Silicon Valley city of Santa Clara), and three Canadian cities hosted matches: Edmonton, Toronto, and Ottawa.

The organizers increased the number of men's teams competing from four to six, effective with the 2006 competition. South Africa and Wales had expressed an interest, but Ireland and Scotland accepted invitations for 2006. Both sent A sides to the competition, and the New Zealand Māori returned that year as well.

In 2007, the Churchill Cup was held in England for the first time. Both Rugby Canada and USA Rugby agreed to the one-time move largely because both countries' national teams would be competing in the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.

The 2008 tournament returned to North America, according to tournament organizers. The participants were Canada, USA Eagles, England Saxons, Ireland A, Scotland A, and an Argentina XV (essentially a 'B', or third string team) replacing the New Zealand Maori, who as of 2008 participate in the Pacific Nations Cup.

Pool matches were held in Ottawa on June 7, Kingston on June 11, and Toronto on June 14. The finals were held at Toyota Park in Chicago on June 21.

The 2009 competition, the first to be held entirely in the US, was held in the Denver area. In addition to the three permanent competitors of Canada, the USA, and England Saxons, Ireland A returned. The Argentina side was a new national selection known as the "Jaguars", initially a major component in the development of a professional player pool for the national team which soon absorbed the country's previous "A" national side. Scotland A was replaced by newcomers Georgia. The winners of the 2009 Churchill Cup was Ireland A.