Veteran Canada hooker Ray Barkwill retires due to medical reasons
Ray Barkwill always wanted to play rugby for Canada, marking it down as a goal in his high school yearbook.
But the hard-nosed hooker from Niagara Falls, Ont., had to wait until he was 32 to win his first cap.
Barkwill, 38, has been a constant ever since. Coach Kingsley Jones estimates that of the 61 or 62 Canada matches since Barkwill’s debut, the hooker played in 55 of them.
“It just reflects on his attitude never to give the other guy another chance,” Jones said. “Because once he got that jersey, he didn’t want to give it up.”