Dylan Cleaver: NZ's loss, Canada's gain for Rugby World Cup

Piri Weepu of the All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images

Kieran Crowley described himself as a proud Canadian in the aftermath of his side's impressive come-from-behind victory over Tonga.

That would have surprised a few people in Kaponga, the South Taranaki farming community that Crowley, in a previous life, called home.

The 50-year-old former All Black fullback has an enviable record this year, with Wednesday's win maintaining Canada's unbeaten record in 2011. That record will be tested on Sunday when they meet France who have had eight days to rest, but still, not bad for a bloke who couldn't land a decent gig in this country.

For 10 years, the man they call Colt was at the helm of Taranaki, a mid-sized union that enjoyed moderate, but never startling, success on his watch.

In that time he also had a two-year stint as one of John Mitchell and Robbie Deans' All Black selectors and coached the New Zealand under-19s to world championship success in 2007.

If you include the more than 200 caps he earned for Taranaki, the 19 tests and involvement, albeit limited, as a player in two World Cup campaigns (1987 and '91) and as a selector at another (2003), there's a vast store of rugby knowledge locked under his perma-grey lid.

It is Canada that is benefiting from that intellectual property, not New Zealand. That's the inevitable situation you get when there are just eight aspirational positions here - the three All Black selectors and the five Super rugby jobs - and scores of quality coaches waiting for an opportunity. (Or, in the case of the Hurricanes' Mark Hammett, not waiting very long at all).

New Zealand remains the primary exporter of coaching talent and knowledge and on the evidence of this World Cup, the sport is richer for it.

John Kirwan and Warren Gatland have respectively got Japan and Wales playing with a bit of verve and passion, while Deans has Australia playing a decent brand of footy. With a bit of luck they might do all right at this tournament.

But it was Canada that caught the eye. Just when it seemed they were about to be overpowered by the fickle Tongans, they found some reserves and tackled even harder. They played smart footy too - well-coached footy.

Crowley has assembled an Anglo-Welsh-Kiwi crew.

Defence coach Clive Griffiths can take a lot of credit. He coaches RGC 1404 in North Wales and they have a deal in place with Canada Rugby. Seven members of the World Cup squad have appeared for the club in the past two seasons.

Another Welshman, Geraint John, has been with Canada rugby in a high-performance role for several years and he is Crowley's assistant.

Former Leeds prop Mike Shelley is scrum coach and Crowley paid tribute to his work when revealing that his loosehead prop has only played that position for four years, twice as many years' experience than the tighthead.

Crowley has kept some connection to his old province by appointing Neil Barnes as forwards coach.

As for the players, some of them - like Jamie Cudmore and Jebb Sinclair - have European contracts, but the vast bulk of them are turning out weekly for clubs like Prairie Wolf Pack and the BC Bears.

They've got where they are with a lot of hard work and not a lot of money.

And a fair bit of Kiwi ingenuity.