A Look at Canada’s First Rugby World Cup Match on May 24th 1987 vs Tonga
May 24th 1987 was Canada’s 1st Rugby World Cup match. The game was against Tonga and Canada won 37-4, it was played in Napier, NZ in front of 7,000 fans. A try was worth 4 points then so Canada scored 7 tries to Tonga’s 1, Canada added 3 conversions and 1 penalty. Scoring for Canada were winger Pat Palmer of UBCOB (2T), centre Paul Vaesen of JBAA (2T), Rowers Ian Stuart at centre (1T), CW’s Flanker Rob Frame (1T) and a penalty try. Converting was CW’s Gareth Rees (1C), and JBAA’s (later Velox) fullback Mark Wyatt (2C). Gareth Rees also added a penalty.
Canada was in a pool with Wales, Ireland and Tonga. Canada won the Tonga match handily but lost 46-19 to Ireland and 40-9 to Wales. Wales and Ireland advanced from the pool to the quarter-finals, Wales defeating England 16-3 to advance to the semis where they lost 49-6 to NZ. Ireland lost in the quarter-finals to Australia. NZ won the title in a win over France while Wales picked up 3rd place.
Most of the Canada team were from BC with 21 of the 25 roster playing club rugby in BC. The coach was Oak Bay high school teacher, Gary “Jono” Johnston, who was a stalwart at the James Bay club and was Canada Cap #124 earned in 1978 against France.
| Name | Position | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Cardinal | Hooker | JBAA |
| Karl Svoboda | Hooker | Ajax Wanderers |
| Eddie Evans | Prop | JBAA |
| Ross Breen | Prop | Meraloma |
| Bill Handson | Prop | Vaughan |
| Randy McKellar | Prop | Crusaders |
| Ro Hindson | Lock | UBCOB |
| Hans de Goede (c) | Lock | JBAA |
| Ron van den Brink | Lock | JBAA |
| Bruce Breen | Flanker | Meraloma |
| Roy Radu | Flanker | UBCOB |
| Rob Frame | Flanker | CW |
| Glen Ennis | Number 8 | JBAA |
| Dave Tucker | Scrum-half | Meraloma |
| Ian Hyde-Lay | Fly-half | UVic |
| Gareth Rees | Fly-half | CW |
| Charles Jones | Centre | Toronto Welsh |
| Ian Stuart | Centre | VRC |
| Paul Vaesen | Centre | JBAA |
| Steve Gray | Centre | Kats |
| Tom Woods | Centre | JBAA |
| Pat Palmer | Wing | UBCOB |
| John Lecky | Wing | Meraloma |
| Spence McTavish | Wing | UBCOB |
| Mark Wyatt | Fullback | JBAA |