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One of Canada’s top front row prospects is heading to France. Matt Tierney, the starting tighthead prop for the national u20 side that recently finished second at the Junior World Trophy in Portugal, has signed a one year academy contract with Pau.
“While I was in Portugal I got a message from an agent who said he had a proposal for me to play in France,” said Tierney. “When I got home my parents and I talked to him about all the details and at the end of the conversation I said ‘I’m in’.”
The French club earned promotion to the Top 14 this year after dominant season in the Pro D2, and with new financial backers they have added some big name players to their roster in the off-season, including All Blacks Colin Slade and Conrad Smith, and British & Irish Lions tighthead Euan Murray. Tierney will also be joining another highly rated Canadian at Pau, senior international second row Cameron Pierce.
“I’ve been talking to Cameron for the past month now about what it’s like to be in a professional environment, he’s helped me out with contract details and I’m also going to stay with him for a bit until I can find my own place and get adjusted.”
Standing 6’3” and tipping the scales at a whopping 290 lbs (132 kg), the Mississauga product made his senior Ontario Blues debut in Calgary in the Canadian Rugby Championships just two weeks ago. His strength in the scrum has turned heads already, and he credits his Blues mentor with helping him learn the trade.
“Doug Wooldridge has been a big influence. The leadership he shows through his experience on the pitch has really helped my game. I try and take in as much information as I can when he gives advice on technique and the ‘dark arts’ of the scrum!”
Those who watched the tournament in Lisbon will have noted how well the Canadian scrum started the tournament, but also how they struggled in the final against Georgia, who Tierney rates as his toughest challenge to date, but also one he learned from.
“We knew Georgia was going to have extremely strong forwards but when we engaged in our first scrum I could feel just how strong they were. When the ball was put in they generated a significant amount of force that really took us by surprise.
“Something that I took away from that experience is to never go into a game too confident, I thought that I was good at scrummaging – the pack had beaten the other countries pretty easily – but that was an eye opener. I didn’t prepare for Georgia as much as I should have.”
Having recently finished up at Humber College, Tierney will head to France in August to meet his new teammates and get settled in to life in a new country, and take his first steps towards a professional rugby career. For such a young man he seems impressively calm about the challenges that lie ahead.
“I’m not too nervous about moving away from friends and family. I got a bit of a taste of what it’s like to live away from home when I lived in Victoria for three months, and then I was in Portugal for another month. It will be harder living in another country with a much different culture then Canada’s, but I’m looking forward to the experience.
“Now that I’m done at Humber, my main focus is on rugby, but I will take a couple courses at the university [in France] to learn the language. The ultimate goal is to become a professional. I’ve been working towards that for a couple years now after rugby became a little more serious for me.”
Tierney is only 10 days past his 19th birthday and is eligible to represent his country again in next year’s u20 Trophy in Barbados, which he says he is intent on doing. With Jake Ilnicki hitting their stride with the senior team and Tierney well on his way, Canada’s scrum looks set to be securely anchored in place for the 2019 World Cup and many years beyond.
