Ardron earns first Super Rugby start

Tyler Ardron will get his first start in Super Rugby this weekend. The Canadian international has been named in the run-on side to face the Sunwolves in Tokyo on Saturday. Primarily a loose forward, Ardron is instead named at lock where he will pack down beside giant All Blacks incumbent Brodie Retallick.

Other New Zealand caps in the team include hooker Nathan Harris, flanker Sam Cane, flyhalf Damian McKenzie, and centre Anton Lienert-Brown. Scrumhalf Brad Weber is named on the bench.

It’s the second Super Rugby appearance all told for Ardron, his first coming as a replacement against the Blues on March 2. The 26-year-old signed for the Chiefs in May after opting to depart Guinness Pro Championship club Ospreys. He then played seven games between August and October for Bay of Plenty in the Mitre 10 Cup, New Zealand’s domestic provincial competition.

Ardron is the third Canadian international to play Super Rugby following Jebb Sinclair and Christian Stewart. The last time a Canadian started in the competition was July 14, 2012 when Sinclair played at No8 for the Stormers against the Cheetahs.

The Chiefs have won two of their three games in the new season. They have reached the knock-out rounds of the competition in each of the last six seasons and have been Semi Finals in the last two years. They earned back-to-back Super Rugby titles in 2012 and 2013.

Saturday’s match is at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium with kickoff set for 1:15pm local time (12:15am Eastern). Canadian fans can watch live on TSN Go.

CHIEFS vs Sunwolves
1 Aidan Ross, 2 Nathan Harris, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 4 Brodie Retallick, 5 Tyler Ardron, 6 Lachlan Boshier, 7 Sam Cane (capt.), 8 Taleni Seu, 9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 10 Damian McKenzie, 11 Solomon Alaimalo, 12 Johnny Fa’auli, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 14 Toni Pulu, 15 Marty McKenzie

Replacements: 16 Liam Polwart, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Jeff Thwaites, 19 Michael Allardice, 20 Mitchell Karpik, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Sean Wainui, 23 Bailyn Sullivan