History of Rugby in Saskatchewan

Almost as if the turning of the calendar indicated the turning of rugby’s fortunes, the 1930s brought the formation of a competition in southern Saskatchewan between teams from Regina, Moose Jaw, Balcarres, and Mortlach. Despite the fledgling nature of this league, Gwyn Richards, an experienced Welsh import playing for Moose Jaw, became the first Saskatchewan-based rugby player to be selected to represent Canada on the 1932 tour of Japan.

Rugby thrived in this period despite the challenges of economic depression and population reduction. Not only did the local league continue but a provincial side was selected to compete against their Manitoba counterparts. This competition produced mixed results for the Saskatchewan side, but certainly buoyed participation in the sport and created a pathway to national honours. The first organized junior rugby competition was also formed in this time period, with Campion College of Regina taking the first Lane Cup championship in 1934.

However, just like with rugby’s initial organized beginnings in Saskatchewan in the 1890s, the momentum of these programs was unable to be sustained. The difficulties of maintaining interest in amateur sport in a competitive sports market reared their heads in the late 1930s as clubs struggled to field teams consistently and volunteer leadership turned over. The popularity of Canadian football – and a local team called the “Roughriders” – proved to be a large obstacle that rugby would have trouble overcoming until the 1960s.

After a couple aborted attempts to revive rugby in Saskatchewan in 1961 and 1962, rugby finally gained a permanent foothold in the province in 1967. This permanence is exemplified by a number of clubs formed in this era remaining active to this day.

The roots of modern rugby in Saskatchewan were planted in 1967 when the Regina Condors split from the All Blacks Club (formerly Regina Harlequins), who had been the sole rugby club active in Saskatchewan for most of the 1960s (and who primarily competed against sides from Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg). The Condors, who are still active today, provided the local competition that was required to truly grow the sport and were soon followed onto the scene by the Saskatoon Rugby Football Club (still active today as the Saskatoon Gophers) in 1968.

If a presence for rugby in both Regina and Saskatoon, whose single club fielded two full sides, was an essential feature of sustaining rugby in Saskatchewan, so was the creation of a formal governance structure for rugby in the province through the formation of the Regina Rugby Union in 1970 and the Saskatchewan Rugby Union (now Saskatchewan Rugby) in 1971. This changed the sport from being a loose association of clubs trying to sporadically organize matches to a structured organization that ensured that the member clubs had a sufficient amount of local and interprovincial competition.

The 1970s were a period of growth for rugby in Saskatchewan with the formation of successful junior rugby programs fostering the growth of a number of senior clubs. Over the course of the decade, no fewer than six independent clubs were formed (with most fielding multiple sides across senior and junior divisions): the Moose Jaw Nads (1970), the Prince Albert Gryphons (1972), the Saskatoon Wild Oats (1973), the Saskatoon Kirin (1975), the Saskatoon Krems (1976), and the Campion Grads (1977). The Saskatoon Kirin, originally called the Saskatoon Happy Hookers, were the first women’s club in the province.

The 1980s continued the growth of the Saskatchewan rugby community with 3 more clubs joining the scene. The Regina Rogues (1981) joined the Condors and Campion Grads as men’s clubs in Regina. The Regina Breakers joined the Saskatoon Kirin on the women’s circuit in 1985. The North Battleford Bulldogs were the third club to gain permanence in 1986 after a few years of intermittent activity. This growth at the senior level was accompanied by further growth across the province at the junior level in places such as Wilcox (Notre Dame), Humboldt, Lashburn, and Unity.

COMING SOON!