Churchill Cup
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The Churchill Cup is an annual rugby union tournament contested by representative men's and women's teams from Canada, England, and the United States, with a fourth invited team. The tournament is named after former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
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 England players not yet part of the national team. Because of the gap in skill levels, the England A side took part instead of the full England men's side; however, the full England women's side participated.
In 2004, New Zealand was invited, being represented by the New Zealand Maori men's team and the women's representative team, the Black Ferns. In 2005, Argentina will send its A side (not its full national team, as reported here in the past) to the men's competition. There will be no women's competition in 2005 or 2006, as Canada is preparing to host the Women's Rugby World Cup in 2006.
Currently, the competition is only scheduled through 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 US has an option to host in 2006 and 2007. However, because USA Rugby is now involved in hosting the Los Angeles Sevens tournament in the World Sevens Series, it is likely that Canada will host the Churchill Cup in those years as well.
Results
| Year | Venue | Men's Winner | Women's Winner |
| 2003 | Vancouver | England A | England |
| 2004 | Calgary and Edmonton | New Zealand Maori | New Zealand |
| 2005 | Edmonton | TBD | No competition |
See also
- Argentina national rugby union team
- Canada national rugby union team
- England national rugby union team
- New Zealand Maori
- United States national rugby union team
External link
- Churchill Cup (http://www.churchillcuprugby.com/) official site