History of rugby union matches between Canada and the United States

Canada and the United States have played each other a total of 65 times, with Canada winning 39 tests, the United States winning 24, and two matches resulting in a draw. Historically, Canada have dominated the rivalry. However, recently the results have been in favor of USA, who won 12 of 14 matches between 2014 and 2021, the same amount of victories as they had in the previous 37 years.

The first ever match occurred in 1977 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Canada won the match 17–6. The United States' first win came the following year in Baltimore winning 12–7.

Since their first match in 1977, the United States and Canada played on another nearly every year, with the exception of Covid-19 pandemic restricted years. In recent years they have played on a home and away basis, with many of these meetings serving as qualification rounds for the Rugby World Cup.

From 2013 to 2015 and in 2019, Canada and the United States played every June in the tournament now known as the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, along with Japan, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. The 2024 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup saw the return of both the USA and Canada.

Defunct tournaments

In 1996, Canada and United States played in the Pacific-Rim Championship along with Hong Kong and Japan. The 1999 edition saw the addition of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The tournament folded in 2001. Alongside the Pacific-Rim Championship, the sides also competed in the Pan-American Championship until 2003.

In 2003 the Super Cup formed and was contested between Japan, Russia and the United States. In 2004 they were joined by Canada. The tournament was only contested for 3 years as it folded in 2005 with Canada the final champions. In 2003, the Churchill Cup began a tournament in which Canada and the United States would play A sides from Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. The tournament folded in 2011 prior to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Between 2016 and 2019, the two countries have played in the Americas Rugby Championship alongside the senior teams of Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, plus Argentina's second national side, Argentina XV.

Summary

Overview

Details	Played	Won by Canada	Won by United States	Drawn	Canada points	United States points
In Canada	35	25	9	1	840	598
In United States	25	10	14	1	499	492
Neutral venue	5	4	1	0	159	108
Overall	65	39	24	2	1,498	1,198

Records

Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.

Record	Canada	United States
Longest winning streak	7 (11 July 2009–21 June 2014)	6 (1 July 2017–4 September 2021)
Most points for
Home	56 (12 August 2006)	52 (1 July 2017)
Away	52 (2 June 2007)	51 (18 February 2017)
Largest winning margin
Home	49 (12 August 2006)	36 (1 July 2017)
Away	42 (2 June 2007)	25 (23 June 2018)

Attendance

Up to date as of 11 February 2024.

Total attendance*
165,114
Average attendance*
5,694
Highest attendance
15,000 Canada 19–20 United States 26 June 2005
*Excludes 36 matches in which no attendance was reported

Results

No.	Date	Venue	Score	Winner	Competition	Attendance	Reference
1	21 May 1977	Swangard Stadium, British Columbia	17–6	Canada		6,000
2	28 May 1978	Baltimore, Maryland	12–7	United States
3	9 June 1979	Varsity Stadium, Toronto	19–12	Canada
4	8 June 1980	Saranac Lake Park, New York	0–16	Canada
5	6 June 1981	Kingsland, Calgary	6–3	Canada
6	12 June 1982	Bleecker Stadium, New York	3–3	draw
7	11 June 1983	Swangard Stadium, Burnaby	15–9	Canada
8	9 June 1984	Rockne Stadium, Chicago, Illinois	21–13	United States
9	16 November 1985	Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver	21–10	Canada
10	8 November 1986	Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona	16–27	Canada		4,500
11	10 May 1987	Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver	33–9	Canada
12	14 November 1987	Royal Athletic Park, Victoria, British Columbia	20–12	Canada
13	11 June 1988	Saranac Lake Park, New York	28–16	United States
14	23 September 1989	Varsity Stadium, Toronto	21–3	Canada	1991 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
15	9 June 1990	Chief Sealth, Seattle	14–12	United States	1991 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
16	8 June 1991	Kingsland, Calgary	34–15	Canada
17	13 June 1992	Observatory Park, Denver	9–32	Canada
18	19 June 1993	Winnipeg, Manitoba	20–9	Canada
19	21 May 1994	George Allen Field, Long Beach, California	10–15	Canada
20	9 September 1995	Fletcher's Fields, Markham, Ontario	14–15	United States
21	11 May 1996	Boxer Stadium, San Francisco, California	19–12	United States	1996 Pacific-Rim Championship	3,500
22	18 May 1996	Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver	24–20	Canada
23	18 September 1996	Mohawk Sports Park, Hamilton, Ontario	23–18	Canada	1996 Pan-American Championship
24	10 May 1997	Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver	53–12	Canada	1997 Pacific-Rim Championship	5,000
25	28 June 1997	Boxer Stadium, San Francisco, California	11–22	Canada		1,800
26	23 May 1998	Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver	17–15	Canada	1998 Pacific-Rim Championship
27	6 June 1998	Burlington, Vermont	3–37	Canada		4,300
28	18 August 1998	Club Atlético San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina	31–14	Canada	1998 Pan-American Championship	3,000
29	19 June 1999	Fletcher's Fields, Markham, Ontario	17–18	United States	1999 Pacific-Rim Championship	4,500
30	3 June 2000	Manchester, New Hampshire	34–25	United States	2000 Pacific-Rim Championship
31	19 May 2001	Richardson Memorial Stadium, Kingston, Ontario	19–10	Canada	2001 Pan-American Championship	7,155
32	29 June 2002	Fletcher's Fields, Markham, Ontario	26–9	Canada	2003 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers	2,200
33	13 July 2002	Rockne Stadium, Chicago, Illinois	13–36	Canada		2,500
34	18 June 2003	Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver	11–16	United States	2003 Churchill Cup	3,200
35	27 August 2003	José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina	20–35	United States	2003 Pan-American Championship
36	27 May 2004	National Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	23–20	Canada	2004 Super Cup	3,500
37	19 June 2004	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	32–29	Canada	2004 Churchill Cup	5,000
38	25 May 2005	National Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	30–26	Canada	2005 Super Cup
39	26 June 2005	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	19–20	United States	2005 Churchill Cup	15,000
40	17 June 2006	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	33–18	Canada	2006 Churchill Cup
41	12 August 2006	Swilers Rugby Park, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador	56–7	Canada	2007 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
42	2 June 2007	Twickenham Stadium, London, England	52–10	Canada	2007 Churchill Cup
43	21 June 2008	Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois	10–26	Canada	2008 Churchill Cup
44	4 July 2009	Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, South Carolina	12–6	United States	2011 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers	3,836
45	11 July 2009	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	41–18	Canada
46	6 August 2011	BMO Field, Toronto	28–22	Canada	2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches	10,621
47	13 August 2011	Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado	7–27	Canada	2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches	5,000
48	9 June 2012	Richardson Memorial Stadium, Kingston, Ontario	28–25	Canada	2012 June rugby union tests	7,521
49	25 May 2013	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton, Alberta	16–9	Canada	2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup	3,526
50	17 August 2013	Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, South Carolina	9–27	Canada	2015 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers	5,258
51	24 August 2013	BMO Field, Toronto	13–11	Canada		10,207
52	21 June 2014	Cal Expo Facility, Sacramento, California	38–35	United States	2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup	7,804
53	3 August 2015	Swangard Stadium, Burnaby	15–13	United States	2015 Pacific Nations Cup 5th Place play-off
54	22 August 2015	Twin Elm Rugby Park, Ottawa, Ontario	23–41	United States	2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up	5,168
55	13 February 2016	Dell Diamond, Round Rock, Texas	30–22	United States	2016 Americas Rugby Championship	7,415
56	18 February 2017	Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, British Columbia	34–51	United States	2017 Americas Rugby Championship	3,416
57	24 June 2017	Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton, Ontario	28–28	draw	2019 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers	13,187
58	1 July 2017	Torero Stadium, San Diego, California	52–16	United States
59	10 February 2018	Papa Murphy's Park, Sacramento, California	29–10	United States	2018 Americas Rugby Championship
60	23 June 2018	Wanderers Grounds, Halifax, Nova Scotia	17–42	United States	2018 June test	6,000
61	8 March 2019	Starfire Sports, Tukwila, Washington	30–25	United States	2019 Americas Rugby Championship
62	27 July 2019	Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado	47–19	United States	2019 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup	5,000
63	7 September 2019	BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia	15–20	United States	RWC warm-up match
64	4 September 2021	Swiler's Rugby Park, St. John's, Newfoundland	34–21	Canada	2023 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers
65	11 September 2021	Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado	38–16	United States
66	31 August 2024	Dignity Health Sports Park, Los Angeles, California			Pacific Nations Cup

See also

• Rugby Americas North
• Americas Rugby Championship
• Rugby World Cup qualification