This weekend, New Brunswick's Jebb Sinclair took the field wearing the #8 jersey of the London Irish in the English Premiership. It was not so long ago that another Canadian star by the name of Phil Murphy was making that very same jersey his own. The career of Phil Murphy is an interesting case study, and now that more Canadians are beginning to make their way back to professional rugby's top tier, it is worth asking an important question; is history due to repeat itself?
Murphy was the poster boy for a very serious problem in Canadian rugby. He was one of a series of athletes whose professional accomplishments were so impressive that they created tension with the national program that spawned them.
Following the 2003 World Cup, Canada was taking the field against adversaries like England without a host of its most prestigious professionals such as; Morgan Williams, Mike James, Jamie Cudmore, Phil Murphy, Rod Snow and others. While each of these players were dealing with slightly different situations, there was one common theme; they had become so valuable to their professional clubs that they were seldom made available for national team duty. Eventually, the IRB passed legislation which gave national teams the right to force the release of their players during recognized test windows, but the problem largely remained.
In most cases, Canadian coaches were unwilling to put the careers of their top-tier athletes at risk by pulling them away from their clubs for weeks at a time. Many clubs has used up a valuable "import contract" in order to acquire a Canadian player, and were unhappy when such a valuable investment was put at risk. In other cases, players like Phil Murphy simply made the choice to devote themselves entirely to their clubs and professional accomplishments. Murphy enjoyed a long and storied career at London Irish; however, Canada was without his services for the vast majority of its international tests during that time. Eventually, due to this tension, a gap opened between the two parties and Canada went on to the 2007 World Cup in France without one of its finest players.
Professional clubs in the English Premiership have never had larger playing schedules then they do currently. Clubs train year-round and play extensive league schedules, supplemented by appearances in both the European and Anglo-Welsh Cups. Big squads are increasingly the rule, and a player like Jebb Sinclair will need every opportunity to make his mark, if his professional career is to become a successful one.
So what are Canada and its top-tier athletes to do?
If every Canadian playing top-tier rugby were to cut back on their national team commitments, this country would have to do without the likes of DTH Van der Merwe, Jamie Cudmore, Jebb Sinclair and Chauncey O'Toole. As the Canadian U20 program and Academy gains strength, more such signings seem a likely possibility. It is incredibly exciting to see Canada's developmental system beginning to field athletes that are in demand across European professional leagues. How much the Canadian national senior men's team will benefit from this resurgence of elite rugby talent, however, remains an open question.
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Check out our blog at: www.theproreport.blogspot.com
Murphy was the poster boy for a very serious problem in Canadian rugby. He was one of a series of athletes whose professional accomplishments were so impressive that they created tension with the national program that spawned them.
Following the 2003 World Cup, Canada was taking the field against adversaries like England without a host of its most prestigious professionals such as; Morgan Williams, Mike James, Jamie Cudmore, Phil Murphy, Rod Snow and others. While each of these players were dealing with slightly different situations, there was one common theme; they had become so valuable to their professional clubs that they were seldom made available for national team duty. Eventually, the IRB passed legislation which gave national teams the right to force the release of their players during recognized test windows, but the problem largely remained.
In most cases, Canadian coaches were unwilling to put the careers of their top-tier athletes at risk by pulling them away from their clubs for weeks at a time. Many clubs has used up a valuable "import contract" in order to acquire a Canadian player, and were unhappy when such a valuable investment was put at risk. In other cases, players like Phil Murphy simply made the choice to devote themselves entirely to their clubs and professional accomplishments. Murphy enjoyed a long and storied career at London Irish; however, Canada was without his services for the vast majority of its international tests during that time. Eventually, due to this tension, a gap opened between the two parties and Canada went on to the 2007 World Cup in France without one of its finest players.
Professional clubs in the English Premiership have never had larger playing schedules then they do currently. Clubs train year-round and play extensive league schedules, supplemented by appearances in both the European and Anglo-Welsh Cups. Big squads are increasingly the rule, and a player like Jebb Sinclair will need every opportunity to make his mark, if his professional career is to become a successful one.
So what are Canada and its top-tier athletes to do?
If every Canadian playing top-tier rugby were to cut back on their national team commitments, this country would have to do without the likes of DTH Van der Merwe, Jamie Cudmore, Jebb Sinclair and Chauncey O'Toole. As the Canadian U20 program and Academy gains strength, more such signings seem a likely possibility. It is incredibly exciting to see Canada's developmental system beginning to field athletes that are in demand across European professional leagues. How much the Canadian national senior men's team will benefit from this resurgence of elite rugby talent, however, remains an open question.
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Check out our blog at: www.theproreport.blogspot.com
2 comments:
Great points. I didn't realize the problem before, so now I wonder what can be done about it. Obviously the IRB rules help, but I can just imagine the conversation: "Well, , the IRB forces us to release you for the test, but while you're gone we will have to use someone else in your place and they may just take the position permanently".
What do other second-tier countries do?
Thanks for the comment John. You are correct that the conversation is always a difficult one. What if the Canadian professional gets injured on national team duty? What if their absence causes their club team to lose an important match? And often times, as you say, there are players chomping at the bit to take your roster spot, when they get the chance.
Other second-tier nations like Tonga and Samoa often (like Canada) go years without access to their top-tier players. What is different about Canada is that we are going to be playing summer tests soon against the likes of Italy, who will have a larger pool of top tier players to choose from. Tonga and the other South Pacific Islands usually only play eachother, or the "A" teams of other tier-one nations.
With Canada having beaten an Italian "A" team at the Churchill Cup last summer, you can bet Italy will be sending a strong team to Canada this coming June. Hopefully this country will be able to do the same.
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