Rugby Canada names new $8-million training centre after former captain Al Charron

Rugby Canada’s new $8-million training facility in Langford, B.C., will be named after former captain and trailblazer Al Charron.

The 1,765-square-metre two-storey facility, a major addition to Rugby Canada’s existing Centre of Excellence just outside Victoria, will be known as the Al Charron Rugby Canada National Training Centre. The groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday, with the centre scheduled to open in September 2017.

“It’s a fantastic honour and I’m very proud to have my name on that building,” said Charron, who won a record 76 test caps for Canada and played in four Rugby World Cups. “The thing I’m probably happiest about is that it’s actually getting built.

“The name is great and something that I’ll look back on obviously very fondly. And hopefully it will be there for years and years to come, long past my time on Earth. But what I’m happiest about is that we’re going to have a facility that’s going to help our women and our men train properly for Canada. It’s going to be a first-class institution.”

The training centre will allow all of Rugby Canada’s teams to train in a single location. Currently they often have to train at different spots: in Langford, the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, University of Victoria or Shawnigan Lake School.

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“It puts us all under one roof,” said former Canadian captain Gareth Rees, Rugby Canada’s director of commercial and program relations.

The training centre will feature a 650-square-metre gymnasium, changing rooms, recovery and stretching rooms, a kitchen/dining and lounge area, plus meeting, office and storage space, six one-bedroom studio units, therapy clinic, reception area, and the recently announced Rugby Canada Hall of Fame.

“This is just a necessity for our athletes to be able to compete on the world stage,” said Rees. “So it’s great, but it’s the tools we have to give them otherwise it’s not fair to ask them to compete.”

The centre will be open to other high-performance athletes — and the public — at certain times.

The existing facility at Langford houses Rugby Canada and most of its coaches and front office officials. The main field is Westhills Stadium, with another set of pitches nearby.

The federal government contributed $2.9 million for the new training centre with the City of Langford providing $1 million in land costs with another $1.5 million to be repaid over the course of 15 years. Rugby Canada raised the remaining $2.6 million.

The new facility will play a huge part in helping build a “world-class winning rugby culture,” said Rugby Canada CEO Allen Vansen. 

Rugby Canada currently has centralized player groups for its men’s and women’s sevens teams plus the men’s 15s team in Langford. Vansen hopes to add the women’s 15 teams to that list.

Rees welcomed the decision to name the centre after Charron, paying tribute to his character and playing ability.

“Internationally he’s the one guy that not only do I believe but a lot of other coaches I played against believed he could have played for any team in the world at his best — and I’m talking England, All Blacks, anyone. He was that good,” said Rees, himself a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. “That’s a pretty rare space to be in.”

The 50-year-old Charron, who captained Canada 25 times, currently serves as Rugby Canada’s manager of player advancement and alumni relations.

He played for the renowned Barbarians side five times and was part of the World 15’s squad that faced Argentina to celebrate its centenary anniversary in 1999. Charron played professionally in Europe for Bristol, Moseley, Pau and US Dax.

Former Canadian coach David Clark called the six-foot-five 255-pound forward “the heartbeat of the (Canada) team.”

“He’s the man that everybody follows and reveres,” Clark added.

Charron exited his national team on a stretcher, laid out in the 2003 World Cup in Australia by a crushing shoulder tackle from Tongan fly half Pierre Hola.

He returned to the team hotel from the hospital around midnight, sporting 16 stitches to his lower lip and gums. He arrived to a standing ovation from his teammates.

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m married, because I’m not sporting the best of looks right now,” he quipped.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press