Rugby Canada invokes hero of the past to build the future

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Al Charron's training regime for the 1991 Rugby World Cup was of the do-it-yourself variety.

Charron, in his mid-20s, lived in Ottawa, far from most national team players in British Columbia. He focused on cardio: he would run at his old high school and, on some winter days, he'd jog down Bank Street with skates over his shoulders to the Rideau Canal and skate the rest of way to work at Natural Resources Canada.

"You make do," said Charron. "It's truly Canadian. You do what you've got to do to get fit."

At the 1991 World Cup, Canada's 15-a-side rugby team delivered its best-ever performance. Canada reached the quarterfinals, where it lost to New Zealand. In the match, Charron plowed through three New Zealanders for a memorable try.

Charron is one of the greats of Canadian rugby, but the game never really took off in Canada during the years he played. He retired in 2003. In the years since, however, the sport has gained some ground. It has been buoyed recently by the inclusion of rugby sevens in the Olympics and the success of Canada's women's team, capped by a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games.

Now, Rugby Canada is making a big push to capitalize on the momentum. Backed by the federal government and Bay Street donors, Rugby Canada has started construction of an $8-million national training centre in the Victoria suburb of Langford, where the organization had previously built some facilities. Tying together the past and future of Canadian rugby, it will be named the Al Charron Rugby Canada National Training Centre.

"It's massive. It was a missing piece," said Rugby Canada's Gareth Rees of the new training centre.

Rugby in Canada is centralized in the Victoria region but various national teams train in different places. The new centre will bring everyone together. The 19,000-square-foot two-storey building will feature a large gym alongside meeting rooms and other things such as hydrotherapy to help deal with injuries. The official groundbreaking for construction was on Monday and it is set to open next September.

Charron embodies the spirit of Canadian rugby, said Rees, a former teammate. On the field, Charron, 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, was a strong athlete and key player for Canada. He captained the team 25 times and his 76 international matches is the most of a Canadian player. Rees highlighted Charron's less-obvious play on the field.

"Simply put, it was the unheralded work that made other people look good," said Rees, today a Rugby Canada director and, as a player, the only Canadian man in the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

The key backer of the new centre is the federal government, which announced $2.9-million of funding through Infrastructure Canada in mid-2015. The City of Langford contributed land worth $1-million and another $1.5-million will come from Rugby Canada, which will pay it back over 15 years. The remaining $2.6-million is in the hands of Rugby Canada's fundraising efforts, which are underpinned by two major donors in Toronto. Financier Bill Webb is contributing $750,000 over five years and financier Kevin Reed is putting up the same with several other people.

The training centre is essential for Canada's future success in rugby, said Webb, a Rugby Canada board member and recently retired as chief investment officer of Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc.

"It's absolutely table stakes in the global game," said Webb.

Tim Powers, chairman of Rugby Canada, said: "When it comes to facilities and infrastructure, we're behind."

Rugby Canada still has to raise more money, and Webb is working on that campaign, too; Webb credited Charron for stoking interest in Rugby Canada and attracting donors to the organization, with projects such as a fund to support national team players.

"He's one of the great ambassadors of the game," said Webb.

While Canada has made gains in rugby, there is significant work ahead. Canada's women have shown what's possible: In the 2013 World Cup, Canada was second. And the sevens team is a perennial top-three power.

But on the men's side, competition is stiffer. The 15s team has won only one match of 12 in the past three World Cups, unable to advance past the pool stage. The men's sevens team has fared better, showing promise by finishing sixth in the 2013-14 season, but last season fell to 13th and didn't qualify for the Olympics.

To Charron, his hope is the new training centre will help elevate the sport in Canada, drawing new athletes.

"We'd still love to see rugby be a bigger sport in this country," said Charron.

Charron has always been the epitome of rugby's resilience in Canada.

In 2003, at 37, he planned to retire after the World Cup. He captained the Canadian team and was the oldest player in the tournament, playing after major knee surgery. In Canada's last match, against Tonga, Charron was clobbered by a shoulder-to-head tackle. He dropped to the field unconscious. Blood poured from his mouth.

He was carted off the field. After 16 stitches in his lower lip and gums at the hospital, he returned to join his teammates at the hotel to mark the end of their tournament. Charron received a standing ovation.

"It was important for me to be there," said Charron. "I don't recommend for your last game to be stretchered off. But it could have been a lot worse."