Raymond "Ray" Barkwill (born 26 August 1980) is a retired Canadian rugby union player who played for a number of teams before ending his career at

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in Tukwila, Washington. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby (MLR), the top-level rugby union competition in the United States that began play ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

where he helped win the inaugural title including scoring a try in the final. Ray also played for the

Canada national rugby union team The Canada national rugby union team (french: Équipe du Canada de rugby à XV) represents Canada in men's international rugby union competitions and is governed by Rugby Canada. Canada is classified by World Rugby as a tier two rugby nation and ...

and was the first Canadian to play in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

. Born in

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...

, Barkwill began playing his rugby at

Westlane Secondary School Westlane Secondary School is a Canadian public secondary school located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It serves the Lundy's Lane area, and is part of the District School Board of Niagara. , it had 669 students. In the Fraser Institute's ' ...

along with Niagara Wasp RFC, it was here that he and teammates learned the invaluable "Tooq Bomb". After which he went on to play for the

Niagara Thunder The Niagara Lightning (formerly Niagara Thunder) are Canadian rugby union team based in southern Ontario. The team played in the Rugby Canada National Junior Championship and draws most of its players from the Niagara Rugby Union. The Lightning ...

while being educated at

Brock University Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bear ...

in St. Catharines. In 2007 he captained

team to its first OUA Rugby Championship while being named OUA Finals MVP. Barkwill graduated from

with a BSc. in

Physical Geography Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...

. After this, he continued his post graduate studies at

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

Perth, Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. He then joined the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

's Rugby Club in June and was then selected to the Western Australians Perth Spirit at the end of September of that season for their tour to

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

. Ray is also an avid golfer and member of the Cowichan Golf Club. His power fade, deft touch and overall dedication to the sport have him playing to a low handicap that would make even the greatest of weekend warriors proud.

2011

At this time Barkwill continued to play the season with

UWA The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

where they won the Grand Finals of the PINDAN Premier Grade against rivals Nedland, where he was voted on as

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

at the tournament. Shortly after the finals Barkwill was invited again to join the Western Australian State side (Perth Spirit). In late 2011 Barkwill was selected to train with the

Super 15 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

side

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

"A" for the upcoming 2012 season. At this time he caught the eye of Canadian national coach

Kieran Crowley Kieran James Crowley (born 31 August 1961) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who is the head coach of Italy. He has also coached the New Zealand Under-19s in the 2007 World Championships as well as coaching provincial side T ...

2012

In January Barkwill made his first selection for the Force "A" side while continuing to play for the Perth Spirit side. In March he joined the

Ontario Blues The Ontario Blues are the senior men's representative rugby team for Ontario. They were founded in 2009 to compete in the Americas Rugby Championship against other representative teams from Canada, Argentina, and the United States. In their inaugu ...

on their tour of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

versus the Argentinean provincial side from

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...

, and the national sides of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. On this tour he was given the nickname " La Flama Blanca " by the Argentinean crowd. Concluding this tour Barkwill was informed about joining the Ontario Blues team for the 2012

Canadian Rugby Championship The Canadian Rugby Championship (CRC) (french: Championnat provincial du Canada de rugby à XV) was a Canadian amateur rugby union competition, partially funded by the World Rugby. It was the highest level of men's domestic rugby in Canada. Four r ...

season back in Canada. The Ontario Blues went on to win their second consecutive CRC championship in September. Barkwill was then selected to represent Canada "A" at the

Americas Rugby Championship The Americas Rugby Championship, often informally called the Americas' Six Nations, was an annual international rugby tournament between six North and South American nations: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States and Uruguay. Origin ...

held in

Langford, British Columbia Langford is a city on southern Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Langford is one of the 13 component municipalities of Greater Victoria and is within the Capital Regional District. Langford was incorporated in 1992 and ...

. After the ARC concluded in October, Barkwill was then selected for Canada's autumn tour to the UK, versus

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and the New Zealand Māori. On November 9, 2012 he started for Canada in his first cap vs Samoa in

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

where they lost 42-12.

2015

Barkwill was selected for the Canadians team for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

, which was held in England. He started the first two games vs Ireland and Italy while coming off the bench for the France match. He is recognized by his big beard; along with teammate

Hubert Buydens Hubert Buydens (born 4 January 1982) is a Canadian rugby union player. He is a member of the Canada national side and was part of Canada's squad at the 2011 Rugby World Cup where he made 4 appearances. He plays as a prop forward and made his Cana ...

they made news during the

2016

In March 2016, Barkwill announced that he had signed with the

Sacramento Express The Sacramento Express were a professional American rugby union team that played in the short lived PRO Rugby competition. They were based in Sacramento, California, and played their home games at Bonney Field. History In early November 2015, P ...

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...

for their inaugural season.

2020

After announcing his retirement, Barkwill took up a teaching job at

Royal Bay Secondary School Royal Bay Secondary School (RBSS) is a secondary school located in Colwood, a western suburb of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of three secondary schools in School District 62 Sooke right now and serves the suburban West Shore are ...

. He teaches metalwork and social studies, and also moonlights as the head coach for the Royal Bay Ravens girl's rugby team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barkwill, Ray 1980 births Living people Canada international rugby union players Canadian expatriate rugby union players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate rugby union players in the United States Sacramento Express players Seattle Seawolves players Sportspeople from Niagara Falls, Ontario Western Force players Rugby union hookers