Canadian rugby coach Kieran Crowley. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Neil DavidsonNeil Davidson/The Canadian Press
After a lengthy World Cup campaign and pre-tournament schedule, Canadian rugby coach Kieran Crowley is giving his players a chance to get back to their normal lives.
The focus is on the sevens team in the short run. But Crowley will assemble his full squad for internationals next summer.
In the meantime, some more of his players have found their way overseas.
Jebb Sinclair (London Irish, England), Chauncey O'Toole (Ospreys, Wales), Jason Marshall (Stade Aurillacois Cantal Auvergne, France) and Matt Evans (Cornish Pirates, England) have all signed pro contracts.
"We have a couple of others that are talking to different clubs at the moment, which could possibly come out in the new year hopefully if things go well," said Crowley.
That includes Adam Kleeberger, the tireless flanker who turned heads with his big play and big beard during the tournament in New Zealand.
But the tournament took a medical toll on others. DTH van der Merwe (shoulder) and Ryan Hamilton (sports hernia) have both had surgery and Hubert Buydens (knee) is slated to go under the knife.
Veteran back Ryan Smith, a veteran of three World Cups, is the only member of Crowley's team to announce his international retirement.
After Canada's exit, Crowley remained a week in his native New Zealand to attend an 1987 All Blacks reunion dinner to launch a trust fund for John Drake, a member of that World Cup-winning team, who died of a heart attack a year ago.
The Canadians finished third in their group, with a win over Tonga, a tie with Japan and losses to eventual finalists France and New Zealand.
The All Blacks defeated the French 8-7 in a tense final.
"If you'd said to me before the tournament would you take a win and a draw, I possibly would have," said Crowley, while admitting he wanted more as the tournament wore on.
The Canadian coach was happy with the opening 25-20 win over Tonga and thought his side played well in a 46-19 loss to France, despite paying the price for fatigue in the last five minutes in each half.
He was disappointed by the Japan performance — "We never played the way we wanted to in that game" — but took solace that his players rallied for a 23-23 draw.
And the All Blacks were, well, the All Blacks.
Canada, nursing some injuries and feeling the effects of a short turnaround, was soundly thumped 79-15.
"They just displayed the gap between the real top nation and us at this stage," Crowley said.
"Everyone was pretty positive (about Canada) but you come away feeling what could have been. You got a bit but you wanted a bit more."
The up-and-down Tongans added to the Canadian discomfort by upsetting France 19-14 to finish third in their pool ahead of Canada. That gave the Pacific Islanders an automatic berth in the next World Cup and a shot at some high-profile opposition before that.
"The Tonga-France game was a pretty emotional roller-coaster for us," Crowley said. "That was a disappointing result in the end for us but you've got to give credit to Tonga for the way they played."
Canada will have to qualify for the next tournament, as it did this time. But Crowley says the IRB liked what it saw of 13th-ranked Canada on the field "so we came out of the tournament with a fair bit of credit in that respect as well."
With many of his players juggling school or jobs, Crowley is letting them look after their other responsibilities for now. He had most of them for 18 weeks in the summer, a long period of time for the Canadian program.
So he turned down a chance to play games in February-March.
Another factor in that decision was a growing commitment to the sevens program. The pressure is on Canada to perform at the Hong Kong tournament since it will serve to decide which teams become a core part of the IRB sevens series.
Canada wasn't invited to this weekend's sevens tournament in Australia but a young Canadian side leaves Saturday for subsequent events in Dubai and South Africa.
The 15-man Canadian side will assemble for three or four home games in June. The players will then scatter to their Canadian Rugby Championship teams.
A Canadian squad will go to the Americas Rugby Championship ahead of a November tour of three or four Test matches in Europe for the full national team.
There will be more Tests in February-March, 2013.
While the Canadians exited the World Cup after the first round, they left with an enhanced reputation. Crowley believes his players were fine ambassadors.
"One of our aims was that they were going there to embrace the whole tournament and enjoy it and get out and meet people etcetera. I think that's part of touring and that helps you get a good balance. They did that and they were outstanding in that field.
"New Zealand did a really good job (as host) too. They opened their doors. It was a really positive experience for them all (the Canadians)."
As for Crowley, he signed a contract extension prior to the World Cup that takes him up to June 2013.
"I still have that contract and we'll see how things go in the near future," he said.