Karl Svoboda

Rugby player

Karl Svoboda

Date of birth|  (1962-03-23) March 23, 1962 (age 60)

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Place of birth| Belleville, Ontario
Rugby union career
| Position(s)|  Hooker

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Amateur team(s)
Years|  Team|  Apps|  (Points)
197?-1985
1981-1985|  Belleville Bulldogs
University of Toronto|  |  ()
Senior career
Years|  Team|  Apps|  (Points)
1985-1996
1996
1996|  Ajax Wanderers R.U.F.C.
Oxford University RFC
Penguins Rugby Club|  |  ()
National team(s)
Years|  Team|  Apps|  (Points)
1985-1995|  Canada|  24|  (0)

Karl Franklin Svoboda (born March 23, 1962, in Belleville, Ontario) is a Canadian former rugby union footballer of Czech descent. Svoboda began his rugby career as the Belleville Bulldogs hooker and then played representative rugby with the Ontario Junior XV. In 1981 he scored a try in the final of the Canada Summer Games. He then played with the Ontario Senior Men's Rugby XV, captaining many of the games. Two notable victories came in the national championship over the British Columbia Provincial XV in 1982 and 1995. In 1995, the Ontario Provincial Rugby Team, with Svoboda as captain, was named co-winners of the Ontario Provincial Team of the Year, along with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Svoboda also captained Canada for two Test matches in 1993, the most notable being the victory over an England XV.[1] During this same year, Svoboda's brother Paul captained the Canadian National Rugby League Team.

Svoboda played in the first three Rugby World Cups (1987, 1991, 1995), and amassed a total of 24 International Caps between the years 1985–1995.[2] He went on to play for Oxford University at the dawn of the professional rugby era in 1995, gaining his full rugby Blue.[3] Svoboda also gained a Blue at Oxford by playing defense in ice hockey during the Varsity match against Cambridge University in 1996. He also played for the Penguin International RFC, touring Hungary and the Czech Republic with them in 1996.

Svoboda now resides in Whitby, Ontario, where he coaches rugby for his high school team (Sinclair Secondary School) and for the mini program at his home rugby club, the Ajax Wanderers.

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - Canada v England XV at Burnaby Lake". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
2. ^ "Karl Svoboda | Rugby Union | Players and Officials". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
3. ^ "NHS to recruit housewives as board members". 5 August 2001.

* Oops… Looks like something went wrong! This page does not exist or has been moved. Scrum.com player statistics
* Oxford University RFC
* About - Ajax Wanderers Rugby Club
* Svoboda family continuing family’s rugby legacy</references>

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Canada squad – 1995 Rugby World Cup

Forwards|

* Bice
* Cardinal
* Charron
* Ennis
* Evans
* Gordon
* Hutchinson
* James
* LeBlanc
* MacKinnon
* McKenzie
* Michaluk
* Rowlands
* Snow
* Svoboda

Backs|

* Graf
* Gray
* Lougheed
* Lytton
* Rees
* Ross
* Stanley
* C. Stewart
* S. Stewart
* Toews
* Tynan

Coach: Birtwell

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Canada squad – 1991 Rugby World Cup

Forwards|

* Breen
* Charron
* Ennis
* Evans
* Hadley
* Jackart
* MacKinnon
* Robertson
* Speirs
* Svoboda
* Szabo
* Van den Brink

Backs|

* Dukelow
* Graf
* Gray
* Lecky
* Lougheed
* Palmer
* Radu
* Rees
* C. Stewart
* S. Stewart
* Tynan
* Woods
* Wyatt

Coach: Birtwell

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Canada squad – 1987 Rugby World Cup

Forwards|

* B. Breen
* R. Breen
* Cardinal
* Ennis
* Evans
* Frame
* De Goede
* Gray
* Handson
* Hindson
* McKellar
* Radu
* Svoboda
* Van den Brink

Backs|

* Jones
* Hyde-Lay
* Lecky
* McTavish
* Palmer
* Rees
* Stuart
* Tucker
* Vaesen
* Woods
* Wyatt

Coach: Johnston

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