Canada need to evoke the 1991 spirit of Vimy Ridge
CANADA tackle New Zealand on Wednesday and whenever the Canuks meet the All Blacks, which isn’t very often, your mind goes back to the driving rain and mud of Lille in 1991 when they gave as good as they got for 80 minutes before losing their quarter-final 29-13.
And as they always remind folk they won the second half 11-10
It was undoubtedly the highwater mark for Canadian rugby, that brief moment in time when they unquestionably batted higher than the likes of Argentina – who they had beaten in the qualifying tournament – Italy and North American neighbours the USA.
In the run up to the tournament Canada had also downed Scotland and Japan and at the World Cup itself – when they were based exclusively in France – they performed superbly to beat good Romania and Fiji sides and gave France a major scare before losing 19-13.
These were heady days but now, somehow, the Canucks need to conjure up the spirit of 91 or face humiliation against a team that rightly never soft pedal against the minnows.
There were signs of talent against Italy in midweek but their execution was abysmal with three or four tries going begging.
So what was in the air in the autumn of 1991 for the Canadians? What was going on? What is for certain is that having set up base camp in France for a month they were having a good time in the old rugby tradition.
The weather wasn't great and the hotels left a lot to be desired but this group was close tight. They spent much of their careers on the road, they had even beaten Argentina in Buenos Aires to secure their qualification, and having all booked a month off work to compete intended to make the best of it on and off the pitch.
Beer was drunk in huge quantities, there were high jinks, late night visits to McDonalds to supplement their evening meal and the team never lost that road trip feeling.
They were also an incredibly tough bunch physically which is often down to mindset. Yes, the late Norm Hadley was possibly the biggest and best enforcer in the game at the time and could dominate opponents physically but it was more than that.
The sight of diminutive scrum-half Chris Tynan,
right, picking a fight with France’s legendary hardman Pascal Ondarts when the two sides met was one to savour. Flanker Gord MacKinnon was no giant but pound for pound was arguably the most physical player at RWC1991. Nobody messed with him.
Mackinnon was righty honoured the following year when he was asked to start for the World XV against New Zealand in a couple of Tests to celebrate the centenary of the NZ Union
Then there was the gentle captain’s run before the France match when the Canadian reserves and those not picked at all, whether by design or just pent up emotion, started piling in with big hits and little digs on their colleagues and friends during the walk through.
It all kicked off, punches were exchanged and
even the normally sanguine French media on the touchline couldn’t quite believe what they were seeing. Back at the hotel it was quickly forgotten – it showed the mindset was right and, let’s be honest, it was pretty good preparation for playing that particular French side.
And then there was their visit to the extraordinary Vimy Ridge memorial just a couple of days before the New Zealand match. This is where the 3,598 Canadians who died in that encounter and the 10,062 maimed and injured are remembered and the Canucks visit is the first I can recall of any sports side to such a site.
By the turn of the century they had become much more commonplace but this first tribute visit was very novel and impactful as wing Steve Gray recalls
“From the time of the visit right up to the final whistle against New Zealand I believed we were going to stun the world. The cold Lille rain falling throughout the match provided the perfect backdrop for what I envisaged as a fantastic tribute to every Canadian that fought at Vimy Ridge.
“It wasn’t to be but the boys never dropped their heads or took a step backwards.”
Somehow this Canada side, against even bigger odds, have to tap into some of that raw emotion. Do that and it could be their finest day as well, even in defeat.