It’s like an extended family reunion at the Rugby Canada Centre of Excellence in Langford.
The beginning of the road to the 2023 men’s World Cup in France has begun with a training camp that has brought in all of Canada’s top players who are not playing pro overseas.
It is the first act for legendary scrum-half Rob Howley, capped 59 times for Wales and a member of two British Lions tours, as newly minted assistant coach to Canada head coach Kingsley Jones.
Also at Westhills Stadium, John Tait is preparing the medal-touted Canadian women’s sevens team for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Plus One Olympic Games next summer.
Tait and Howley were teammates at Cardiff RFC for four seasons. “[Howley] was the star of the team, but the last guy off the pitch,” said Tait.
That says a lot about attitude and leadership.
“I learned so much from Rob about being a pro … in terms of approach,” said Tait.
Howley’s knowledge of the game is almost intrinsic. “Rob is a real technician and a proven coach,” said Tait.
Adding to the old-home feel is Gareth Rees, the great from Victoria, who is the only rugby inductee into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. Former pro Rees, now director of commercial and program relations for Rugby Canada, played against Howley and Tait whenever Harlequins met Cardiff in league play.
Tait and Rees suited up for Canada in a 1999 Test match at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff as the Canadians put in a spirited shift in a 33-19 loss to Howley-captained Wales.
“There were between 60,000 to 70,000 people there and it was an awesome atmosphere, and we put up a good fight against a Six Nations side,” said Tait.
“It was only the second Test match played in Millennium Stadium and we were competitive,” added Rees.
That was a decade, highlighted by Canada’s 1991 World Cup quarter-final appearance, in which Canada could hang tough against storied opponents by employing a gritty, smash-mouth style. But the game has become far more technical now and Canada has not been able to keep up, and only scraped into the 2019 World Cup in Japan as the 20th and final qualifier.
That’s where Howley’s expertise will prove invaluable over the next three years, which is the length of his contract. He was on the Welsh national team coaching staff for the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, and has had two stints as interim head coach of Wales, including with the 2013 Six Nations championship side.
Howley was again part of the Welsh coaching staff when he was sent home from Japan just before the 2019 World Cup because of a gambling scandal. His 18-month ban was reduced to nine months. Howley told Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press that he has “sought professional help over the betting.”
With Howley unexpectedly available, and a big connection through fellow-Welshman Jones, Rugby Canada jumped at the chance.
“Rob Howley is such a tremendous communicator with an attention to detail,” said Rees, whose four World Cup appearances, included two as Canada captain. “He has a real rapport with the players.”
It will be needed as Howley, under head mentor Jones, will look to keep alive Canada’s increasingly precarious tradition of having qualified for every World Cup. “I’m excited to get to work and help prepare Canada for World Cup qualification,” Howley said in a statement.
High-performance athletes already training in B.C. and identified by Canadian Sports Institute-Pacific are excluded from the current sport-related restrictions to Dec. 7. Regardless, training, practices and scrimmages are allowed for all sports organizations. Howley quarantined for two weeks in Calgary upon arrival to Canada and before moving on to the Island.
“This camp has been a big success,” said Rees. “Rob Howley is a great addition to Rugby Canada.”
Among the nearly 40 players brought together in Langford have been the members of the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby. Howley will also work as consultant to the Arrows.
“There is a tremendous opportunity to leverage the synergy of a professional club, loaded with domestic players in an emerging league, to help support the national team,” he said.
“It is very similar to my past experience coaching in Wales.”