The Toronto Arrows re-signed Rob Brouwer for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 38-year-old prop is 6’3″ and 255 lbs.
Rob is the oldest Canadian Rugby National Team player to make his debut at 33-years and 72 days and was part of Canada’s extended Rugby World Cup 2019 squad.
Rob, Arrow #2, played the final two matches during the truncated 2020 MLR season, starting the final one at loosehead prop, and has made 18 appearances over his two seasons with the club.
In the Arrows’ first MLR season in 2019, he was named to the All-MLR 1st XV side. He made 16 appearances with the team and played 1031 minutes. He also made 154 tackles, had a team-high 19 dominant tackles, had a 93.3% tackle completion rate, and scored 2 tries.
Rob grew up in Lindsay, a town 2 hours northeast of Toronto, and farm life impacted the time that he had on activities outside of school. In his senior year in high school, he began to play rugby with Lindsay Rugby Club and continued to play with the club since then. He has been the President of the Club and has been involved in all aspects of the club. He lives in the town and is a teacher there.
After high school, Rob attended McMaster University and continued to play rugby.
Rob elaborated what rugby has meant for him in an article by Brock Smith saying in a speech at Lindsay’s minis (under-8 to under-12 players) banquet that “rugby has been the biggest positive influence on my life in so many different ways.”
“Most notably, Brouwer met his future wife, Hannah, at a club function. They welcomed their first child, Urban, last year, and are expecting a second early next year.”
“When I think about the most important things in my life, after my wife and son and our families, it’s the club. It’s a clichéd thing, but our club is like a family. It becomes part of the fabric of what you do.
“I have a lot of pride in my club, so when I play for Canada or Ontario, I’m proud to say I’m from Lindsay, and that Lindsay is my home club. I want to represent our club as best I can on the national and international stages.”
Rob has played for the Ontario Blues since its inception in 2009 and many Canadian Rugby Championships. He has been the team’s captain and earned Rugby Ontario’s Senior Provincial Player of the Year award in 2016.
He played for the Canada ‘A’ team in America’s Rugby Championship. He also played for Canada A that same year in the Americas Pacific Challenge, as well as in 2017.
During the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship, he debuted for Canada against Brazil in Langford, B.C., and has earned 11 caps, his last was against Fiji on Aug 3, 2019, in Suva.
Rob was part of the Ontario Arrows squad during the Spring MLR exhibition season in 2018 and joined the Toronto Arrows for the 2019 MLR season, the first team from Canada in the nine-team league. He also played this Fall in exhibition matches. Rob is one of the best props in MLR and his leadership will be invaluable again in 2020.
Toronto Arrows Comments
“Rob is a veteran presence who gives us strength and depth in a critical area for us,” said Arrows Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Mark Winokur. “As a longtime veteran of the Ontario Blues and Arrows, he brings leadership and knowledge back to the team room and great power to the pitch.”
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