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YEAR IN REVIEW 2015 WORLD RUGBY 71The San Francisco Bay area will host the seventh edition of RWC Sevens with the Canadian city of Vancouver also named as one of five new stops on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for March 2016, a month before the women’s series returns to Langford in British Columbia. Canada also hosted the Pan-American Games in Toronto in 2015 with the hosts winning both the men’s and women’s gold medals. For the Canadian women this medal came on the back of their first-ever World Series tournament success in Amsterdam and second place overall in the standings, which confirmed their place at Rio 2016.Canada’s first title came just a week after the USA men had stormed to victory in London, showcasing the potential of the Eagles which was backed up when both the men’s and women’s teams won the regional qualifier for the Olympic Games in June, beating Canada and Mexico respectively in the finals.Rugby World Cup 2015 brought disappointment for both Canada and USA with four defeats apiece, the Canadians coming closest to tasting victory but ultimately suffering heartbreak against both Italy and Romania. However, with the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship to look forward to, both nations will hope to return to winning ways in 2016 when they will have new coaches at the helm.Away from the region’s two main standard-bearers, there was plenty to celebrate with Trinidad and Tobago winning a first men’s 15s title since 2008 with a 30-16 victory over surprise finalists Mexico and the continued growth of the sport thanks to the outstanding work being done at grassroots level.World Rugby’s Get Into Rugby programme, for example, attracted 72,000 new children into the sport in the region as a whole. Encouragingly, GROWTH CONTINUES ACROSS THE REGIONLEFT Trinidad and Tobago celebrated a first men’s 15s title since 2008BELOW The USA’s sevens team shone in 2015With USA selected to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 and other success stories in the sevens game, 2015 was a memorable year for rugby in North America and the Caribbean.42 per cent of the participants were girls – the highest percentage of the six regional associations. Meanwhile, in the Dominican Republic, the sport’s growing popularity was recognised with 24 November declared as National Rugby Day.Formerly known as the North America and Caribbean Rugby Association, the regional RUGBY AMERICAS NORTHassociation enters 2016 with a new name of Rugby Americas North and will unveil a new logo in the coming months.42% of Get Into Rugby participants in the region are femaleAROUND THE REGIONS | INSPIRING PARTICIPATION