July 19, 2026 | Guelph, ON

We kicked off the 2026 Canadian Under-19 Rugby Championships by participating in a long-standing tradition at the University of Guelph, painting the cannon.

A little backstory. The cannon has been a fixture on campus since students of the Ontario Agriculture College brought it in the 1880’s, but in the early 1950’s, it went missing. To this day, no one knows who stole it. It may have been a rival school or the engineering students on campus. Regardless of who, the cannon was found a few years later, hidden behind the Ag Mechanics building.

The OAC students returned it to its central location at Branion Plaza and painted it in an effort to mark the cannon and prevent another theft. This started the tradition of students painting the cannon to bring attention to student unions, clubs, or events happening on campus.

Our Contribution

We invited the captains from each team participating in this year’s Championship to take part in this tradition and spray paint their team’s logo on the cannon.

Thank You to our Supporters

A huge thank you to all our supporters and sponsors who were instrumental in making this happen.

  • Funded in part by the Government of Ontario 
  • City of Guelph
  • Hodgson Custom Rolling Inc. – Player of the Match Presenting Partner
  • Veo
  • Swush
  • Dnode
  • Nothers the Award Store
  • Gilbert
  • O’Neills
  • Sportside