Rugby Canada has announced the hiring of Rob Howley in the position of senior assistant coach for their senior men’s rugby team.
The ex-British and Irish Lion joins fellow ex-Wales captain Kingsley Jones' coaching team on a three-year deal.
The 29-year-old was infamously banned from rugby for 18 months from 16 September, 2019, with nine suspended, for betting on matches, including Wales games.
“I am absolutely delighted to be joining Rugby Canada and begin working alongside Kingsley Jones and the other Canadian coaches,” said Howley.
“I’m excited to get to work and help prepare Canada for Rugby World Cup qualification. I am also looking forward to my first season in MLR with the Toronto Arrows.
“There is a tremendous opportunity to leverage the synergy of a professional club loaded with domestic players in an emerging league to help support the national team – it is very similar to my past experience coaching in Wales.”
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10 of the Biggest scandals in rugby history
Rugby Union has had its fair share of controversial moments down the years.
From on-field misdemeanours to scandals involving disputes and even death, several incidents have divided opinion and filled thousands of column inches.
Here we look at the 10 of the other biggest controversies to have rocked the sport.
1. KAMP STAALDRAAD
It was a military-style "boot camp" organized as a "team building" exercise for the South African national rugby union team, the Springboks (or Boks), during their preparation for the 2003 Rugby World Cup (RWC). Details of the camp emerged in the South African media, resulting in protest from the upper administrative levels of South African rugby.
- The team was ordered to climb into a foxhole naked and sing the national anthem while ice-cold water were being poured over their heads. During their time in the hole, recordings of
God Save the Queen (used as England's national anthem) and the New Zealand All Blacks haka were played at full volume.
- It was confirmed that firearms were present at the camp, although reports varied as to whether they were ever pointed at anyone.
- The players were forced to crawl naked across gravel.
- They also were ordered to spend a night in the bush, during which they were to kill and cook chickens, but not eat them.
2. Speargate Ends O'Driscoll's Tour
The first Test of the 2005 Lions tour was marred by an injury to Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll in the opening minutes of the game that ended his tour.
The Irishman appeared to be upended at a ruck by New Zealand captain Tana Umaga and hooker Keven Mealamu.
O’Driscoll howled in pain as he hit the turf, suffering a horrendous shoulder injury that ruled him out. Neither referee nor touch judge took any action against the All Blacks players, and after the citing commissioner viewed the video evidence, he decided there had been nothing untoward about the incident, per RTE:
3. HARLEQUINS - BLOODGATE
During the quarter-final of the 2009 Heineken Cup against Leinster, Harlequins wing Tom Williams came off the field with what turned out to be a faked blood injury in order to facilitate a tactical substitution for Nick Evans to re-enter the field having gone off earlier injured. An investigation by the ERC and the RFU revealed that blood injuries had also been faked by Harlequins to enable tactical substitutions on four previous occasions. These findings resulted in a twelve-month ban for Williams (reduced to 4 months on appeal), a three-year ban for former director of rugby Dean Richards and a two-year ban for physiotherapist Steph Brennan as well as a £260,000 fine for the club.
4. BRUISER BRENNAN BELTS A FAN
In 2007 Toulouse's Irish forward Trevor Brennan overstepped the mark in a classic case of the red mist during a Heineken Cup clash with Ulster. After some reported chanting that his pub in Toulouse, De Danu was ‘a load of rubbish’ from a contingent of Ulster fans, the fiery forward took it upon himself to interrupt his warm-up and enter the stand, where he rained a series of punches down on one supporter. Brennan was banned for life and fined £17,000 for the assault.
5. THE PLAYER AND THE PRINCESS
Former England captain Will Carling did little for both his clean cut image and the name of rugby when he hit the headlines in mid- 1990s after allegedly having a romantic relationship with Princess Diana. Divorce between Carling and his wife Julia followed and it wasn’t long before the tabloids were dubbing the ex-Harlequins man a love rat.
6. FRENCH NO.8 KILLS HIS WIFE
French rugby was left reeling in 2004 when former No.8 Marc Cecillion was convicted of the murder of his wife Chantal. The ‘Quiet Man’ had descended into alcoholism following his departure from the Test arena in 1995 and among the rugby wives in France there was much talk of unrest between the couple. But they were shocked when, drunk, Cecillon (right) returned to an end-of-season party and in front of 60 people he pulled a .357 magnum from his shorts and fired four bullets into his wife. “I fell into alcoholism whilst being totally wrapped up in my own little bubble,” the former French international captain told the court at his trial. “I exploded without knowing why.”
7. ENGLAND THROWN OUT OF THE FIVE NATIONS
After the RFU signed an £87m TV deal with Sky Sports in 1996, the Celtic countries threw them out of the Five Nations Championship but they were reinstated in time to play in the 1997 tournament. Two years later they were out once again after failing to meet the deadline for accepting the agreement reached over distribution of TV revenue. “The deadline having passed,” read a Five Nations Committee statement, “England ceased to be a member of the Five Nations committee and the Championship.” Things looked gloomy for a while as there appeared no way back for the Red Rose brigade. But former England international Mike Burton was more confident. “I bet my ear to a bag of sweets this will be sorted out in three days, and they will all go out and have dinner,” he predicted. In fact, England’s exile lasted just 20 hours. Brian Baister, RFU chairman and Five Nations committee chairman Alan Hosie thrashed out an agreement over the TV cash dispute and England were back in
8. DALLAGLIO'S DRUGS STING
In 1999 Lawrence Dallaglio resigned the England captaincy following newspaper allegations that he had taken and dealt hard drugs. Dallaglio categorically denied the claims made in the News of the World. Dallaglio added: “The circumstances in which the supposed admissions were obtained amounted to an elaborate set-up.”
But editor Phil Hall said: “We stand by our story. Lawrence Dallaglio is damned in his own words and frankly, we are amazed at his denial.”
The RFU dropped drugs charges against Dallaglio after ‘new evidence’ emerged during an open hearing chaired by a high court judge who decided not to ban him but instead imposed a fine of £15,000 for bringing the game into disrepute.Embed from Getty Images
9. REFEREE ATTACKED BY A FAN
A 2002 Test between South Africa and New Zealand descended into bedlam when Irish referee David McHugh was attacked by a South African supporter who had run on from the stands.
McHugh was assaulted by irate Pieter van Zyl, who was then hauled to the floor by All Blacks flanker Richie McCaw. McHugh was in no fit state to continue and was replaced by English referee Chris White.
The game had been locked at 17-17 when the incident occurred, after McHugh had awarded a controversial early penalty try.
10. DWARF TOSSING IN NEW ZEALAND
England’s 2011 World Cup was not one for the history books. Martin Johnson’s stodgy side laboured through their group and limped out at the quarter-final stage with a defeat to France.
Their antics off the field were more headline-grabbing, however.
After their first game, the players were allowed a night out in the party ski resort of Queenstown and ended up in a bar where a dwarf-tossing contest was underway.
Captain Mike Tindall, and husband of the woman 15th in line to the British throne, was then caught on CCTV having a "moment" with a mystery blonde, according to the Sun
To cap it all, after their exit from the competition, centre Manu Tuilagi got himself into trouble by leaping from a moving Auckland ferry in nothing but his pants.
A £3,000 fine followed, and England left the 2011 World Cup reduced to little more than a shambles.
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