A heap of air miles collected.
Rugby players the world over would be the first to admit that there is nothing better than catching up with teammates and opponents in the clubhouse after a gruelling match.
Squabbles are put to one side and stories of an ankle tap on the halfway line are embellished to heroic and try-saving deeds. However, the team bus often beckons and grumbling can be heard as weary bones prepare for two or three hour treks home.
Spare a thought then for players from the Canadian Rugby Championship who face plane journeys and time zone jumps as they travel over 7,000 kilometres for an away day.
The CRC is made up of four teams – The British Columbia (BC) Bears, Ontario Blues, Prairie Wolfpack and Atlantic Rock. The sides play each other in a round-robin format with the top two competing for the main prize in a final that attracts a large following and is televised nationwide.
10 of Canada’s World Cup squad, captained by Tyler Ardon [below], compete in the CRC, including Djustice Sears-Duru, Hubert Buydens and Connor Braid.
The competition was expanded in 2010 and talks continue about increasing the schedule even further. With Canada being the world’s second largest country in terms of land mass, popping out to catch your local team play may involve a plane ticket, sleeping bag, good book, and a packed lunch, dinner and supper.
When BC Bears travelled to St John’s, Newfoundland to take on Atlantic Rock last season, they took two planes and crossed three time zones. Thankfully for them, they left with a tick in the ‘win’ column.
Canada’s head coach Kieran Crowley believes the CRC’s two-round competition of home and away games is a good start.
“Our top players need to get more high performance games if we are to compete on the international stage. Canada’s domestic players take part in about 10 top level games a year. Every other country in the top 18 in the world, with the exception of the USA, is playing up to 30 high performance games.”
Crowley adds that there are clear benefits in players getting to compete at the highest levels and feels that there is a risk that Canada and the USA could get left behind if the status quo remains.
Former international front-row Rod Snow faced played professionally in South Africa (with Eastern Province) and Wales (Dragons) for a decade before returning home in 2005.
He joined up with his old amateur side Dogs Rugby FC. In 2010, he played with Atlantic Rock and helped them to a championship win at the ripe ole age of 40.
“It’s a tough league and there are no easy games,” says Snow. “The teams have a good mix of established national players, new talent and old stagers. Expanding the league to play more games will only help its development.”
Ontario Blues’ Ryan Tomlinson says the freezing weather in Canada often restricts time on the rugby field. In the past, he has travelled, with many others, to the temperate environs of Vancouver to get game time under his belt.
“There is so much snow in Ontario that it normally rules out rugby for three or four months. Players like myself that are focused on making the national team will travel to get games and then head back to our clubs for the championship.”
Former Canada out-half, Ander Monro admits to having doubts about the domestic championship being the best breeding ground for young talent but adds that all efforts should be made to ensure that it is.
He says, “Ideally we’d want as much of our young talent exposed to professional rugby conditions as possible in order to learn the game. Realistically in Canada this isn’t possible. There was a time, I’m told, when the domestic game was far more competitive than it is now, and the challenge is getting it back to that level.”
The Canadian World Cup squad is comprised of players competing in the professional leagues of Europe, those employed primarily as Sevens players and talented amateurs supplementing their studies and jobs with a peerless dedication to the game.
Over the course of their Pool D games, Canada will travel to Cardiff, Leeds, Milton Keynes and Leicester – covering 600 kilometres.
To the squad members that compete in the CRC, the journeys will feel short and sweet.
