{{Short description|Canadian rugby union team, based in Toronto}} {{Infobox rugby team | teamname = Ontario Blues | image = Ontario Blues logo.png | caption = | image_size = 200px | fullname = Ontario Blues Rugby Football Club | union = Rugby Canada | nickname = | founded = 2009 | location = Toronto, Ontario | countryflag = Canada | ground = Fletcher's Fields | capacity = 3,000 | chairman = | league = Canadian Rugby Championship | pattern_b1 = _Ontariokit2017v1 | pattern_so1 = _Ontariosocks | leftarm1 = 071E36 | body1 = | rightarm1 = 071E36 | shorts1 = 071E36 | socks1 = | pattern_b2 = | leftarm2 = | body2 = | rightarm2 = | shorts2 = | socks2 = | url = www.rugbyontario.com }}
The '''Ontario Blues''' are the senior men's representative rugby union team for Ontario. They were founded in 2009 to compete in the Americas Rugby Championship against other representative teams from Canada, Argentina, and the United States. In their inaugural season, the Blues suffered narrow losses against British Columbia and the Wolf Pack before defeating the Rock to advance to the Canadian Final. The Blues would again lose to BC, but defeated the U.S. Selects in the bronze medal match.
In 2010, Rugby Canada changed the format of the Canadian competition of the ARC, introducing the CRC. The four Canadian teams which competed in the ARC stayed the same, but now played in the CRC, with a Canadian Selects team being chosen from CRC players, and that selects team going on to represent Canada at the ARC. The Blues went on to win four straight Canadian Rugby Championships from 2011 to 2014 during a stretch where they were 19 wins and one loss over three seasons. The Blues have since won the MacTier Cup in 2016 and 2018.
== Teams == In 2017, Rugby Ontario announced that their entire provincial rugby program would be branded under the name "Ontario Blues", replacing the "Ontario Storm" name which had been used for the women's team. The Ontario Blues name now encompasses all provincial representative teams of Rugby Ontario. This includes age-grade competition (U15-U18), development squads (U19 Men's and U20 Women's).
The Ontario Arrows are a privately funded elite club, which is closely related to the Blues organization, that is in negotiations to join the professional Major League Rugby for the 2019 season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2017/11/13/new-york-ontario-major-league-rugby-talks/|title=New York and Ontario in Major League Rugby talks|date=2017-11-13|access-date=2017-11-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2017/08/25/ontario-arrows-launch-elite-rugby-team-september/|title=Ontario Arrows to launch Elite Rugby Team in September|date=2017-08-25|access-date=2017-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/2017/09/08/ontario-arrows-take-first-step-toward-becoming-pro-rugby-outfit.html|title=Ontario Arrows take first step toward becoming pro rugby outfit|first=Neil|last=Davidson|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=2017-09-08|access-date=2017-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2018/03/07/mlr-reveals-finals-locations-and-expansion-plans/|title=MLR reveals Finals Locations and Expansion Plans|date=2018-03-07|access-date=2018-03-31}}</ref> The club will play exhibition games in 2018 at York Lions Stadium.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rugby.ca/en/news/2018/03/ontario-arrows-announce-york-university-as-2018-home-venue|title=ONTARIO ARROWS ANNOUNCE YORK UNIVERSITY AS 2018 HOME VENUE|date=2018-03-06|access-date=2018-03-31|publisher=Rugby Canada}}</ref>
==Season Records== ===Americas Rugby Championship=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- style="background:#ff9;" ! Season ! Position ! Played ! Won ! Drawn ! Lost ! Bonus ! Points |- |rowspan="2"| 2009 | 2nd (Round-robin) || 3 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 3 || 7 |- |Canadian final |colspan="8"| BC Bears 12 – 8 Ontario Blues |}
===Canadian Rugby Championship=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- style="background:#ff9;" ! Season ! Position ! Played ! Won ! Drawn ! Lost ! Bonus ! Points |- |2010 | 3rd || 3 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 6 |- |2011 | 1st || 5 || 4 || 0 || 1 || 4 || 20 |- |2012 | 1st || 5 || 4 || 0 || 1 || 4 || 20 |- |2013 | 1st || 5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 23 |- |2014 | 1st || 6 || 5 || 0 || 1 || 4 || 24 |- |2015 | 2nd || 2 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 5 |- |2016 | 1st || 4 || 3 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 14 |- |2017 | 2nd || 4 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 3 || 13 |- |2018 |1st |4 |3 |0 |1 |2 |14 |}
==Honours==
* '''Canadian Rugby Championship''' ** Champions: '''6''' (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018)
==Current squad== Squad for the 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship season.
{{columns-start}} ''Props'' * Rob Brouwer * Djustice Sears-Duru * Ryan Surgenor * Pat Lynott * Doug Wooldridge
''Hookers'' * Eric Howard * Andrew Quattrin * Hank McQueen
''Locks'' * Mike Sheppard * Paul Ciulini * Kolby Francis
''Flankers'' * Andrew Wilson * Josh van Horne * Jeremy Wright * Seb Pearson * Marcello Wainwright
''No 8'' * Lucas Rumball * Peter Milazzo
{{column}}
''Scrum Halves'' * Andrew Ferguson * Mario van der Westhuizen * Riley di Nardo
''Fly Halves'' * Shawn Windsor * Kieron Martin * Roman Cao-Riquelme
''Centres'' * Jamie Leveridge * Dan Moor * Andrew Coe * Alex Colborne * Jon West
''Wingers'' * Josh Campbell * John Sheridan * Kainoa Lloyd
''Fullbacks'' * Rory McDonnell * Mitch Richardson * Lucas Hammond {{columns-end}}
==Notable players==
===Canada===
The following players have represented Canada at full international level. {{div col |colwidth=13em}} * Tyler Ardron * Stu Ault * Ray Barkwill * Brett Beukeboom * Rob Brouwer * Aaron Carpenter * Paul Ciulini * Alistair Clark * Andrew Coe * Derek Daypuck * Tom Dolezel * Andrew Ferguson * Eric Howard * Kainoa Lloyd * Jamie Mackenzie * Phil Mackenzie * Mark MacSween * Rory McDonell * Ander Monro * John Moonlight * Dan Moor * Taylor Paris * Dan Pletch * Mike Pletch * Lucas Rumball * Mike Scholz * Djustice Sears-Duru * Mike Sheppard * Matt Tierney * Liam Underwood * Andrew Wilson * Jordan Wilson-Ross * Doug Wooldridge {{div col end}}
==Games played against international opposition== {{see also|List of Ontario Blues matches}}
{|class="wikitable" !Year !Date !Opponent !Result !Score !Tour |- |2009 |22 August |{{flagicon|USA}} Midwest Thunderbirds |Win |38-5 |Pre-season exhibition |- |2009 |17 October |{{flagicon|USA}} USA Selects |Win |27-24 |2009 ARC Bronze medal match |- |2010 |8 June |{{flagicon|ENG}} England Counties |Loss |32-26 |2010 Tour of Canada |- |2010 |10 July |{{flagicon|USA}} Midwest Thunderbirds |Win |38-5 |Pre-season exhibition |- |2012 |5 May |{{flagicon|CHL}} Chile |Loss |19-17 |Ontario Blues 2012 South American Tour |- |2012 |8 May |{{flagicon|ARG}} Salta Province |Win |32-26 |Ontario Blues 2012 South American Tour |- |2012 |13 May |{{ru|URU}} |Win |27-16 |Ontario Blues 2012 South American Tour |- |2013 |4 May |{{flagicon|USA}} New York Athletic Club RFC |Win |38-23 |Pre-season exhibition |- |2013 |23 August |{{flagicon|USA}} Life University |Win |36-20 |Pre-season exhibition |- |2016 |11 June |{{flagicon|ENG}} England Counties |Loss |73-0 |2016 Tour of Canada |- |2016 |29 August |{{flagicon|IRE}} Cork Constitution |Win |12-10 |2016 Tour of Canada |- |2017 |29 April |{{flagicon|USA}} Old Blue RFC |Win |43-31 |Pre-season exhibition |- |2017 |20 May |{{flagicon|USA}} Glendale Raptors |Win |43-25 |Pre-season exhibition |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.rugbyontario.com/ Rugby Ontario website] * [http://www.americasrugbychampionship.com/ ARC website]
{{Toronto Sports}} {{Ontario Sports}} {{Rugby union in Canada}}
Category:Rugby union teams in Ontario Category:Rugby teams in Toronto Category:Canadian Rugby Championship Category:2009 establishments in Ontario Category:Rugby clubs established in 2009