Veteran Canadian hooker Ray Barkwill retires due to medical reasons

Veteran Canada hooker Ray Barkwill, who had hoped to make a second Rugby World Cup appearance this fall at age 39, has announced his retirement due to medical reasons.

Barkwill suffered a brachial plexus injury — a nerve condition — at the Rugby World Cup qualifying tournament last November in France. He has not played since and says doctors have told him it is too dangerous to keep playing rugby.

A native of Niagara Falls, Ont., who now makes his home in Langford, B.C., Barkwill was 32 when he made his test debut against Samoa in Colwyn Bay, Wales, on Nov. 9, 2011.