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Francesco Aquilini didn’t back down on Tuesday when asked if he and his family were interested in bringing professional rugby to Vancouver.

Speaking to Sportsnet 650’s Andrew Walker and Scott Rintoul, the Canucks’ owner said “if it made sense, we would look at a rugby team.”

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This follows from rumours first reported Monday by The Province’s Jason Botchford, who said that the Aquilinis have been linked to possible purchases of the CFL’s B.C. Lions and Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps as well.

As discussed in this space yesterday, it’s not known which form of rugby or which league a potential Vancouver team would join, but the Toronto Wolfpack had a very successful first season playing in English rugby league this summer, playing the 13-man version of rugby.

Both Super Rugby, which has teams in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Japan and Argentina, and the Pro14, which has teams in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and South Africa, have taken a look at Vancouver and Toronto as possible expansion cities, but for differing reasons their interest has cooled.

There’s also U.S.-based Major League Rugby, which is set to launch next spring. One Vancouver ,am, Karl Harrison, is involved with the Seattle-based MLR franchise and told The Province last month that if things went well, Vancouver would gain an entry in 2019.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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