The great back-rower is pained by his country’s struggles but sees an opportunity to beat Italy and surprise the game again

'Play 'em tough': Al Charron on how Canada were nearly a world power – and what went wrong

'Play 'em tough': Al Charron on how Canada were nearly a world power – and what went wrong

Alternative history is about tantalising but impossible questions. What if Lincoln had skipped the theatre? What if David Cameron hadn’t called his referendum?

Al Charron wonders what Canadian rugby might have become, had one game at the 1991 World Cup turned out just slightly different.

“We had a really big belief in ourself that we could surprise the world,” says the Hall of Fame back-rower, all 76 caps and four World Cups of him.

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In 1991, Charron was a raw-boned 25-year-old Ottawa Irish flanker, a rare Ontarian in a team dominated by British Columbia.

“I think we should have beaten France,” he says. “We played France in our last pool game” – after beating Romania and Fiji – “and I think we were down 10-0 before we figured out we could play with these guys. And we ended up outplaying them and outscoring them I think for the rest of the game.”

Canada lost 19-13 so Charron, Stormin’ Norm Hadley, Gareth Rees and all qualified for a quarter-final in Lille. That brought heroic defeat, 29-13 to New Zealand, Charron scoring a try, underdogs cheered to the rafters. Canada seemed ready to join the top table.

We had a really big belief in ourself that we could surprise the world

Charron thinks wistfully back. If France had been beaten Canada would have played a quarter-final in Paris instead – against Will Carling’s England.

“England were an unbelievable side,” Charron says, “and they were unlucky to lose the final. But I would have liked to match up against England, because we were kind of built in the same way: strong forward pack, heavily relying on the fly-half.”

Being as modest as he is hugely engaging, he doesn’t put it in stark black and white. So here it is: if Canada had beaten England at the Parc des Princes – a battle perhaps even more brutal than Le Crunch – they would have had a decent chance of beating Scotland at Murrayfield and reaching the final at Twickenham.

What might have been. Four words to sum up Canadian rugby.

After 1991, Canada kept on coming. They beat Wales in Cardiff, Charron scoring the winning try, they beat England, Scotland, France and Italy. At the 1995 World Cup they ran the world champion Australians close and fought the next No1, South Africa, at the Battle of Boet Erasmus. In 1999 they pushed France again.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Charron poses with the Webb Ellis Cup at the House of Commons in Ottawa. Photograph: Minas Panagiotakis - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images

Australia 2003 brought an end to Charron’s career, at 37, borne away on his shield after a horrific high hit from a Tongan defender. Coincidentally or not, Canada have struggled ever since. England 2015 was the first time they lost all their World Cup games but this cycle brought a new low. Beaten by the USA and Uruguay, Kingsley Jones’s men had to qualify for the current World Cup via the repechage, past Germany, Hong Kong and Kenya.

Asked what went wrong, Charron, who works for Rugby Canada in fundraising and player liaison, offers a simple answer.

“I don’t think Canada has ever really got a full grasp of the professional set-up in rugby,” he says. In such a vast country, “the money’s spread out quite a bit – the money that does come in.”

There are steep challenges in funding men’s and women’s XVs as well as sevens squads set for the Tokyo Olympics. Charron speaks with sadness about the decline of a club scene that thrived in amateur days but is now beset by rising costs, insurance concerns, a struggle to keep young talent flowing and older players playing.

But he is also passionately committed to the hard work needed to help Canada’s men “play ’em tough” – an idiom he returns to when contemplating past battles – on the grandest stage once more.

The national team is passionate too, of course. It’s led by another big back-rower, Tyler Ardron, a standout with the Chiefs in Super Rugby. Out in the backs there’s DTH van Der Merwe and Jeff Hassler, the former still with Glasgow, the latter once an Osprey.

Canada’s always showed up at World Cups and raised their game

Hassler is one of a strong contingent from Major League Rugby, which Charron picks out as a positive as it heads for season three. The double-champion Seattle Seawolves might be as American as a Starbucks Venti latte but they are led by the veteran Canada scrum-half Phil Mack and employ a hard core of his compatriots. Toronto Arrows fly the flag at home.

The true impact of MLR will be felt with time. In Japan, Canada must face Italy, Namibia, South Africa and New Zealand. In August, Canada lost to Tonga. In September, Tonga conceded 92 points to the All Blacks.

Charron played for Moseley, Bristol, Dax and Pau but kept coming back for Canada, even in his late 30s with a horrendously busted knee. A disparate squad, on relatively low pay, expected to front up to the best in the world? It seems awfully familiar.

“It’s a difficult thing for the players to get their heads around,” he says. “A lot of them are coming from professional set-ups and we’re not as professional as we’d like to be in every sense of the word. So there’s still, you know, some bean counting going on that sometimes takes away from proper preparation and development for big games.”

Jones, Canada’s Welsh coach, has hinted he might rest key players for New Zealand and South Africa. That might make those games uglier still but he would have good reason. Oddly, this World Cup presents an opportunity.

If Italy and Namibia can be beaten, third place in Pool B will ensure qualification for the 2023 World Cup in France. The irony is not lost on Canada’s great rivals, the US Eagles, whose dominance in North America has been rewarded with an even harder draw.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tyler Ardron in action against Hong Kong, last November. Photograph: Ian Muir/ProSports/Shutterstock

Asked if Canada can do it, Charron reacts with typical generosity. The Italians “don’t get the respect they deserve”. Though Namibia are “ranked 23rd and we’re 22nd”, he doesn’t understand how World Rugby comes up with the rankings.

“It’s going to be tough,” he insists.

But then, Canadian rugby players, from Charron to Ghislaine Landry to the minis of Meraloma and Burlington Centaurs, always play ’em tough.

“Canada’s always showed up at World Cups and raised their game,” Charron says. “So I’m hopeful we can play in a manner that is going to be exciting and hopefully get people out of their seats.

“If we should beat Italy and Namibia, that would certainly be a big boost and set us up for money coming from World Rugby a lot earlier. It sets our schedule out and tells us what we need to do, building towards France in 2023. It makes life easier on everyone, from administrative staff up to the CEO, coaching staff, players. We would know where we stand.

“It’s still a tall ask, but maybe they already consider us a win. Maybe that’s the one thing we might have going for us.”

He laughs. “Hopefully they’re looking past us.”

Back when Charron was in his prime, playing ’em tough with Gord Mackinnon, Glenn Ennis, Eddie Evans and Rod Snow, some very good teams made the same costly mistake.