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Nottingham became the first club to sign the Canadian international since the ground-breaking deal between Champ Rugby and Rugby Canada to facilitate the transfer of players.
Spencer Jones, a 29-year-old centre, has joined the Archers, who are bottom of the embryonic league table, after winning one of their first three matches at the Elior Champ.
Recognizing the need to give their players significant playing time in preparation for their return to the Rugby World Cup next year, Rugby Canada has partnered with Champ to provide financial and logistical assistance to make these moves happen.
Up to 10 players are expected to cross the Atlantic to ply their trade at the championship. Having more foreign talent competing in it, especially potential ones Rugby World Cup players, the second tier of English rugby will hope to reach a wider audience.
Jones, who weighs 100 kg and is 6’1 tall, spent his teenage years in the New Zealand and played age rugby for Waikato.
All of his previous senior club rugby experience was in Major League Rugby (MLR), with the Toronto Arrows, New England Free Jacks and most recently, the Utah Warriors, although he returned to New Zealand briefly this summer to play for Hamilton Marist while looking for a contract.
Born in Vancouver, Jones made his Test debut in the famous 34-21 win against USA 2021 in the 2023 RWC qualifiers and has 22 games to his name, 20 of them starts, including four at half-time.
He started all three games in the first phase of the Cup of Nations and featured in both Pacific Nations Cup games of the second month as Canada finished in third place.
Jones’ signing sets the stage for an all-Canadian 10-12 axis as his international teammate Shane O’Leary is back on Nottingham’s books
Irish-born O’Leary is six months into his second spell at Nottingham, having rejoined the club in March following a six-year absence, including time in Major League Rugby (MLR) and the All-Ireland League.
In his first spell at the Midlands club, O’Leary, now 33, was a hit, finishing the 2018/19 season as the Championship’s top scorer.
Both O’Leary and Jones will be hoping their performances for Nottingham during the season secure their presence in Canada’s Rugby World Cup squad in Australia next year.
Canada did not qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, having failed to qualify for the tournament for the first time in their history, denying them both the chance to play on the game’s biggest stage.
But this time they got the job, despite not being in the top 20 in the world, and will be drawn in Group C at RWC 2027, along with Argentina, Fiji and Spain.