The seventh annual Churchill Cup rugby tournament will be staged entirely in Denver this June after a multi-city plan was scrapped following a pullout by Barclays as sponsor.
Rugby Canada announced on its website the change in plans, which had previously included early Canadian matches in Ottawa and Kingston as well as in Ohio and Connecticut in the United States.
"One of the options we looked at was suspending the tournament for a year but everyone agreed that it was imperative to keep playing games - so the choice to move it to one city made things economically viable," Rugby Canada chief executive officer Graham Brown said.
The event will be staged June 6-20 at two suburban venues.
US and Canadian teams will be joined by the England Saxons, Ireland and Argentina A sides and Georgia.
The tournament opens June 6 with Argentina playing England Saxons and Canada playing Georgia.
On June 10, Argentina will play the Americans and Ireland A meets Canada. Final round robin matches on June 14 send Ireland against Georgia and the Saxons against the Americans. All six teams play a last match June 20.
The event is a key tuneup for July's US-Canada clash to decide a berth in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The Americans host Canada on July 4 and play one week later at Edmonton.
Sapa-AFP Rugbyweek.com
