Gareth Rees retired from international rugby on a high after Canada’s 72-11 defeat of Namibia in their final Pool C match of the 1999 tournament, his place in Rugby World Cup history assured.
The then 32 year old - who recently resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Rugby Canada - is the only player to have featured in all four Rugby World Cups to date.
Rees was a month shy of his 20th birthday when he made his Rugby World Cup debut in Canada’s 37-4 defeat of Tonga at McLean Park in Napier, only six months after playing his first Test against the United States.
The fly half went on to become a major influence in the Canadian team over the next 12 years before bowing out with a national record 487 Test points and 55 caps.
“I suppose I was quite lucky, I was pretty young at the first one and went straight through to 1999,” insists Rees, who is the fifth most capped player in Canada’s history behind former team mates Al Charron, Scott Stewart, Winston Stanley and Bobby Ross.
“It was an awesome experience and pretty spectacular to see how the Rugby World Cup has developed and how the Game was changing around the event, so a lot of positives and a few negatives.”
The most famous player in Canadian rugby history, Rees is the sixth leading points scorer in Rugby World Cup history with 120 points and understandably regards the quarter final appearance in 1991 as a highlight.
“That was an amazing experience,” admits Rees. “To take it to that level was pretty awesome for guys playing as amateurs simply because we loved it. To have the opportunity to play New Zealand was awesome.”