Another Canadian is headed to Seattle. The Seawolves have added 2015 World Cup hooker Ray Barkwill to their roster for the 2018 Major League Rugby season. He joins Head Coach Tony Healy and player-coach Phil Mack for the team’s inaugural season, set to kick off in April.
It’s the second time Barkwill has looked south to play professional rugby. In 2016 he was part of the Sacramento Express in PRO Rugby. The 37-year-old will be reunited with Express teammate Olive Kilifi in the Seawolves front row. With 42 caps on his ledger since making his test debut in 2012, Barkwill will be among the most experienced forwards in the new competition.
Prior to achieving international recognition he was a standout at Brock University, the Niagara Thunder in the now-defunct Super League, the Ontario Blues of the Canadian Rugby Championship, and at the University of Western Australia. While in Perth he was also selected for the Western Force ‘A’ side before returning to Canada. He will join Seattle from the Castaway Wanderers club in Victoria.
Barkwill is currently in Uruguay with the Canada ‘A’ side at the Americas Pacific Challenge. He is the third Canadian front row player to be confirmed for the new professional competition in recent weeks, along with Hubert Buydens and Eric Howard of the New Orleans Gold.