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“I’m obviously just very grateful that I can play for Canada,” the 28-year-old Ardron said. “It was something I first noticed playing in Wales, where there were these excellent players but who weren’t getting picked for one reason or another. But it’s a whole different thing in New Zealand, everyone is so good, world-class.”

Ardron signed on with the Chiefs for the 2018 season on a two-year deal. He’s played 37 times for the team, which is based in the smaller city of Hamilton. Earlier this year he signed a two-year contract extension.

It was a big change for Ardron, who had played professionally for the Ospreys club in Wales since 2013. Former Canadian assistant coach Neil Barnes, a New Zealander, was on the Chiefs’ coaching staff andhelped make the connection. Ardron also played in the rugby hotbed’s second-tier league, the Mitre 10 Cup, for Bay of Plenty.

Super Rugby’s style of play provided the motivation for Ardron to end up there, he insisted. A mobile back rower, he was a key player for Canada’s sevens team in 2012-13 and has scored five tries for the national 15 side since his international debut in 2012.

He’s come a long way since trying to complete his engineering degree at McMaster University while also breaking into the national team.

He’s six years into his professional career and hopes there are many more fun seasons to come.

“I like being in the gym, working out, doing foam rolling, all that stuff,” he said of the structured professional life.

“You can’t live like you were in university. You can’t eat badly. You can’t really go out on the weekend with your friends and stay up all night. You can’t be going out on a Saturday post-game because you have to train two days later. You need to focus on your recovery, on staying at your best.

“It’s one of the main things that take people out of long careers, not being able to take care of themselves.”

Ardron’s Canadians are in Fiji for a pair of World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup games. The first game is against Fiji (10:15 p.m. PT on Friday, TSN2). The Canadians then face Tonga on Aug. 9.