Gareth Rees (rugby player)
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Gareth Rees (born on 30 June 1967) is a former Canadian international rugby union footballer who played fly-half or full back. He is probably the greatest Canadian rugby player ever. During his international career, he played for Canada 55 times, captaining them on 23 occasions and scoring 487 test points.
Rees was born in Duncan, British Columbia, and educated at St. Michaels University School in Victoria and later at Harrow School in England. When still just a schoolboy at Harrow in England, he was selected to the Wasps starting XV in what was then the John Player Cup final.
Rees donated one of his rugby boots to be bronzed and used as a trophy to be competed for annually by St. Michaels and Oak Bay High School. When still just a schoolboy at Harrow in England, he was named in the starting XV for Wasps in what was then the John Player Cup final.
He played club rugby with Castaways, Wasps, Harlequins, Mérignac, Newport, Oxford University, Bedford and the Barbarians.
Rees played in all of the first four Rugby World Cup Finals - 1987, 1991, 1995 and 1999 - retiring after the 1999 finals and becoming the only player to have appeared in all four World Cups.
In the 1995 World Cup Rees together with James Dalton and Rod Snow were sent off in a match that came to be known as the Battle of Boet Erasmus. All three players received a 30-day suspension.
Rees retorted proudly when he was castigated for getting involved in the brawl: "When we don the Canadian jersey we are representing Canada and its people. We must stand together. We must back each other."
His 487 test points remain a Canadian record.
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