Sad sight as injury cuts down a giant maple

By WYNNE GRAY at the World Cup

In their own distinctive ways, Al Charron and Tana Umaga have been mountainous contributors to their test teams.

To watch both cut down by unco-operative knees was a sombre World Cup message against the backdrop of some more frilly moments.

Discussion on the extent and ramifications of Umaga's injury has taken up more comment than it needed, but the interest in his welfare showed the value of his contribution to the All Blacks.

Rehab or surgery permitting, the centre may have a few years left in test rugby.

Not so Charron.

As the Canadian captain hauled his weary 1.93m, 116kg frame onto the after-match podium at the weekend, he carried his sorrow with him.

As his size 15 shoes slumped underneath him and he clasped his massive hands, there was visible resignation on the big man's face.

He was the face of rugby in Canada, making his fourth World Cup appearance and, at 37, the oldest player at this tournament.

He had been a member of the Canadian side who famously reached the quarter-finals in 1991 and gave the All Blacks a tickle-up.

It is remarkable that a man of his advancing years can still play test rugby, a choice assisted, no doubt, by the shallow resources in Canada.

As the top sides in the world have marched on in the professional era, Canada have had to rely on IRB handouts and tours from teams such as NZ Maori.

But Charron's appearance against Wales on Sunday was even more remarkable, because he overcame serious knee surgery five months ago.

He made the tournament because of who he was and what he had done.

But he knew his body was scarcely up to a contest he would have monstered in his heyday.

"Certainly, coming back after so long out is difficult and I am not getting any younger, and I was under duress out there," Charron admitted sadly, after the 41-10 loss to Wales.

"But I tried my best. That is all I asked of myself.

"I have got to work harder like everybody else in this team."

Charron had taken a year off work to prepare himself for one last tilt at the tournament, a year cruelly interrupted when his knee buckled and broke in May.

"I just wish I could have given more [against Wales]," said the man who has dedicated his rugby soul to his country.

"International rugby is getting faster and faster and, unfortunately, I am getting slower and slower.

"I tried to play with everything I have and unfortunately it has got to the point where that is not enough and I will have to relook at my role in the team."

It was like a heart-rending scene from the Discovery channel, a mortally wounded beast accepting his time had come as the vultures circled.

That moment came yesterday when Charron was omitted from the Canadian team to play the All Blacks, a side he would given everything to compete against one last time.

The captaincy honour falls to fellow flanker Ryan Banks, another on the injury recovery trail, and someone who also accepts the inevitable outcome.

"It is Mission Impossible," Banks said. "We know what we are up against and we are not going to win."

Fourteen changes have been made to the starting line-up which lost to Wales.

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