The Inquisition gets "Little Guy"

[Spanish Inquisition]

A new year and the quest continues followers, the journey seems never ending ... and yet we have arrived in a country that has been inhabited for millennia and the world's second-largest country by total area. The land of the maple leaf, the Niagara Falls, the CN Tower and Pamela Anderson. We the inquisition have come in search of the one and only Little Guy. We imagine less problems with this one than the one we left in Dublin last. Ah, Sir Little Guy, good day to you even if its not. Small by name but will you stand tall with us? We, the inquisition have some questions for you and you cannot leave until I and my men have the answers to them!

Questions, let's start simple, I hope sir you follow, if not, we will continue until you do so. Little Guy what is the true meaning of your name?

I'm short, really wish there was something more interesting to add.

So little by stature as we guess. But we are here to investigate you further, and investigate we shall. So what is your rugby background?

Mostly observer and enthusiast, played at high school and very low local level, sadly I have little time to play in the summer due to my work commitments so I haven't played in some time. That and I now have horrible cardio fitness....

Canada has produced the likes of Bryan Adams and Avril Lavigne, but who has your rugby X-Factor?

His Ednessfor reasons to numerous to mention in this limited space and Christophe Dominici!!!! I really started to get into the game during the 1999 RWC, the match he had against New Zealand showed me that even as a smaller person it was a sport I could get into.

Sir Ed Fairhurst of Saskatchewan, we have heard of this brave and noble knight. Such a valiant warrior who is now retired and looking after the monies of Canada. But we shall talk later of this man. We are here in the province of Ontario, what is this place like and where are you taking us tonight?

Ontario is a province where you can pretty much find anything, if sophisticated Urban centres are your preference there is Toronto, Guelph, Waterloo. Fit in more with blue collar working men and women, than Hamilton, Windsor might be your place. Northern Ontario is sparsely populated even though it's the largest part of the province but has vast forests and mineral wealth. We have productive farmland in abundance as well. It hasn't been a great few years economically for the province but I think things will rebound. I'm taking you guys to Niagara Falls since it's only a half hour drive from where I live, Bars, Casino's, attractions and of course the Falls themselves.

Ah the great falls, we look forward to seeing this. However we must ask a question that our leader is keen to know! Is it really true you can leave your house door unlocked?

Our door is never locked, I don't carry house keys and I honestly have no idea where they even are!!!.....once in a while had to under some intense winds that were blowing the door open....you might want to in a more urban area here though.

Interesting, we will report back. A plan to invade may well be on the cards. We have heard of some other fascinating stories. Do Bears really roam the streets? Are they friendly? Could we really take them back home?

Too far south for that, they do wander around in Northern Ontario, BC, and Alberta though. They aren't cuddly except for cubs, and boy can they move...they can outrun us at anything more than a very short sprint. You don't want to take them back home, they rummage campsites and turn over garbage.

We will note this. Back to the rugby, we are here for it, so Little Guy who is your favourite team and why?

Obviously Canada internationally and Ontario Blues over here...but in the last few years I have followed Stormers and Western Province with great interest and when they signed Jebb this season I was even more excited. Always like to see clubs that have given Canadian players opportunities do well no matter the level or league.

So a keen follower then and a man who is loyal to no one team. But what do you make of Canada's performance recently?

While the Samoa game was a letdown, I've been quite optimistic. Usually post RWC years are an absolute disaster for Canada(see our 04 and 08 results for examples) but this year we were competitive in 5 of our 6 games and with a better finish could have beaten Italy and/or the Maori. We need to cut down on some of the small errors in our game we saw this year and the scrum still needs work. The loose forward and backline depth looks great.

Interesting. A team with such potential. So we therefore ask what was the last game you went to see?

Canada vs. Italy in Toronto. It was a great atmosphere and it's become a good venue for the national team.

Earlier we mentioned Sir Ed. How has the retirement of this noble knight affected Canada? Is there another to fill the void?

I put Ed's try on youtube....activated the replay option and sat for hours quietly sobbing in a corner.....I still haven't passed the denial stage.....There are positives and negatives for my country, although we have lost Ed as a rugby Demi-God, we now have his keen mind active in the investment sector....so I think we've secured our way out of the recession. No one can replace Ed..... (In all honesty SH is going to be a bit of hash for us for a while, Mack is more a 7's player, Wilson is a little old and White is so inconsistent, not a whole lot coming up but hopefully someone at the CRC level impresses).

A Demi-God. We have heard of many, but not of one who is noble knight. In the USA they have Captain America. But if Canada was to match them with Captain Canada in the form of Sir Ed Fairhurst, who would win in a fight?

The space time fabric would be ripped apart if these two ever collided the results would be catastrophic due to the power each one of these individuals commands....thankfully Canada and the U.S.A. are allies so Ed and Captain America can focus on dealing woe to our mutual foes....

A change in the world, this could be a problem. A question we don't ask often but we shall ask yourself. Who is your greatest Canada XV you have watched?

There are a few Canadian classics I'll have to leave off since I didn't see them play or very little of them when I was young. But here is the team from what I've seen play.

1. Rod Snow
2. Mark Cardinal
3. Jon Thiel
4. Al Charron
5. Jamie Cudmore
6. Adam Kleeberger
7. Colin Yukes
8. Jebb Sinclair (even though we never use him here LOL)
9. Ed Fairhurst (yep thats right Morgan Williams your on the bench because I still haven't gotten over your 2007 RWC Japan brain fart)
10. Gareth Rees
11. Winston Stanley
12. Dave Lougheed (Using him at Centre and not wing)
13. DTH Van De Merwe
14. Phil Mackenzie (Tough call a couple of good choices here but I think Phil is going to get even better)
15. James Pritchard

Most Canadians and fellow sport fans follow other sports, do you follow suite?

I follow pretty much all team sports, I especially like gridiron, baseball and Ice Hockey. I have played Soccer, Ice Hockey and Baseball at various points, though not anymore(once in a blue moon Soccer like once a year).

A man who has his hands tied with many sporting pies. But seriously sir why do you love TRF?

Great mixture of nationalities, some good banter. Higher level of discussion than at most forums *cough* planetrugby *cough*

Banter? This word, we have not come across. We will have to investigate it. So who in this place do you like and dislike?

Like: Lot's of people in fact most people on here. Dislike: Ummmm HAHAHA, probably shouldn't touch this one though regular posters I haven't really gotten along with I do value their contributions to the forum so I've tried to avoid antagonizing anyone(hopefully successfully). We've had a couple of obvious trolls but they are usually banned quickly.

The standard inquisition questions follows. Who is your favourite Muppet?

All of them except Miss Piggy....she's annoying and Kermit can do better.

Mrs Piggy is not as popular as we thought. But we understand she is jealous of Kermit and his talents. So to be blunt what is your favourite film?

Tough one but I guess I'll go with the one that I first think of as my favourite, the 1984 version of "The Bounty". Amazing cast....Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Daniel Day Lewis, Liam Neeson, Laurence Olivier, Edward Fox and Bernard Hill(amongst others). Beautiful locales and women Tahiti anyone!!!!! And a spectacular adventure made even more awesome because it actually happened!!! Epic soundtrack from Vangelis seals the deal.

A tough one it may be, but we are here to challenge. The Bounty? Is this the chocolate bar of the quest for gold? The confusion will lead us into temptation. Who is your favourite actor or actress Little Guy?

I don't really have one, all actors I have loved have done movies I wasn't interested in or didn't like, but I've also seen movies I hated in which some performers stood out. Sometimes there are niche actors I really like but aren't the leads.

Little Guy our precious time is at an end. What is your message to the TRF faithful?

I have fans?

Good Day Little Guy.
Back to Blog

 

[Saintjay]

I thought all canadians had to follow ice hockey like it is life or death. I caught the NHL bug just from three long stays in Canada. Always struck me as a similar mentality to rugby. So now i'm a Oilers fan.

Good job and great read. Better than the Dublin question dodger

 

[Spanish Inquisition]

Ah we were also very keen to know if all Canadians liked Hockey, but of course we were unsure as to whether the rumours were true.

 

[dudeabides]

That was a great load of Canadian information there! Thanks Inquisitors and Little Guy. I spent the night in London, Ontario when I was a teenager and drove to the falls. However, the only thing I can remember from that sole trip was that they wouldn't put any ice in drinks that were purchased because they were 'already cold enough'.

 

[The_Wol]

I want to take on the Inquisition!

 

[psychic duck]

1. Rod Snow
2. Mark Cardinal
3. Jon Thiel
4. Al Charron
5. Jamie Cudmore
6. Adam Kleeberger
7. Colin Yukes
8. Jebb Sinclair (even though we never use him here LOL)
9. Ed Fairhurst (yep thats right Morgan Williams your on the bench because I still haven't gotten over your 2007 RWC Japan brain fart)
10. Gareth Rees
11. Winston Stanley
12. Dave Lougheed (Using him at Centre and not wing)
13. DTH Van De Merwe
14. Phil Mackenzie (Tough call a couple of good choices here but I think Phil is going to get even better)
15. James Pritchard

No Mike James?

Also what was Morgan Williams' 2007 RWC error against Japan out of interest?

 

[LittleGuy]

No Mike James?

Also what was Morgan Williams' 2007 RWC error against Japan out of interest?

Just behind Charron and Cudmore(I had to think about it for a while with him and Cudmore), but would easily make the #18 or #19 jersey's on my side.

Morgan Williams error occured when Canada were leading Japan 12-5 in the final "play" of their match. Japan placed a grubber kick into the Canadian try zone, a bunch of players were diving/sliding to get it. Williams could have A) let it go out of bounds on it's own(though a Japanese player may have had an outside shot at getting it) B ) Caught the ball himself and carried it out on the full to end the game. but instead used C) Batted the ball out of bounds with his hands, which was illegal and led to a Japanese penalty, Japan managed to stick a try in the corner after this and then nailed a conversion from the sideline.

It was a brain fart and the commentary team and analysts called him on it, still Morgan was a great servant to Canadian rugby and my comments were made in some jest, the match is a painful memory but our entire RWC that year after the first hour against Wales was fairly awful, so it didn't really factor into anything much.

 

[psychic duck]

Just behind Charron and Cudmore(I had to think about it for a while with him and Cudmore), but would easily make the #18 or #19 jersey's on my side.

Morgan Williams error occured when Canada were leading Japan 12-5 in the final "play" of their match. Japan placed a grubber kick into the Canadian try zone, a bunch of players were diving/sliding to get it. Williams could have A) let it go out of bounds on it's own(though a Japanese player may have had an outside shot at getting it) B ) Caught the ball himself and carried it out on the full to end the game. but instead used C) Batted the ball out of bounds with his hands, which was illegal and led to a Japanese penalty, Japan managed to stick a try in the corner after this and then nailed a conversion from the sideline.

It was a brain fart and the commentary team and analysts called him on it, still Morgan was a great servant to Canadian rugby and my comments were made in some jest, the match is a painful memory but our entire RWC that year after the first hour against Wales was fairly awful, so it didn't really factor into anything much.

Fair enough. I must admit I've always rated Morgan Williams though, although that sounded like a pretty big blunder. Fairhurst was a tidy skilful player though, but was unlucky to have his career coincide with some of the worst of Canadian rugby. Both are pretty decent scrum halves.

Mike James would be one of the first names on the teamsheet for my team. 4 World Cups (turned up more than Cudmore), and multiple time Top 14 winner with Stade Francais and still involved in rugby and apparently it was him who got Cam Pierce a contract in France through his contacts. I would move Charron to the back row to fit him in.

 

[LittleGuy]

Fair enough. I must admit I've always rated Morgan Williams though, although that sounded like a pretty big blunder. Fairhurst was a tidy skilful player though, but was unlucky to have his career coincide with some of the worst of Canadian rugby. Both are pretty decent scrum halves.

Mike James would be one of the first names on the teamsheet for my team. 4 World Cups (turned up more than Cudmore), and multiple time Top 14 winner with Stade Francais and still involved in rugby and apparently it was him who got Cam Pierce a contract in France through his contacts. I would move Charron to the back row to fit him in.

That was something I'd overlooked, fitting in Charron over Yukes and getting Mike James in there would be an upgrade. Charron had been fairly effective in the backrow in his early days, though was playing more at Lock when he was towards the end of his career(when I was better able to rate his performances.)

Both Williams and Fairhurst are definately missed and both would have worked well(and did for a while) with the exciting new backs coming up. Our SH options right now are rather limited, White is just so inconsistent, Mack is a 7's specialist and Wilson is a decent fill in guy but is not a long term solution(he's even admitted so himself). FH is also in a flux but players are coming up that should be possibly starters down the line, and possibly even for 2015. SH I don't really see anyone really stepping up in the next 2.5 years, perhaps White can tweak his game with his time in NZ this spring.