Ardron is travelling nicely

Tyler Ardron can’t help but have a quiet chuckle when he hears the cries about Super Rugby being such a long season.

Because, for the Canadian international, who is in his first season of a two-year deal with the Chiefs, the southern hemisphere competition is a rapid ride compared to what he was used to in his time with Welsh club Ospreys.

Having made the move to the country he describes as the best place to develop as a rugby player, the 26-year-old is already repaying the Chiefs in spades, with a strong work ethic and eye-catching round-the-park efforts.

‘‘I’m liking it a lot,’’ Ardron said. ‘‘It’s a bit of an adjustment, everyone thinks it’s a long season here, but it’s a shorter season than what I’m used to, it’s a bit more intense. So I really like that every week is such an important game.’’

Ontario-born, Ardron, who has played 28 tests since debuting in 2012, including being a former captain, was brought to the Chiefs via assistant coach Neil Barnes, who was previously Canada’s forwards coach.

Ardron had also worked a little with Dave Rennie when he helped out at Canada, and was a team-mate at Ospreys of Brendon Leonard, so the counsel of those two also helped him decide on his next destination. improve as a rugby player.’’

After linking with Bay of Plenty for the Mitre 10 Cup after coach Clayton McMillan got in touch with a good sales pitch, Ardron was then primed to jump into this Super Rugby thing, only for a hand injury to delay his progress.

Then, with the view to playing in the loose forwards, he has instead been shunted into lock due to the mass of injuries. At 1.94m he isn’t the biggest second rower going around, but the positional switch hasn’t stopped him showcasing his expansive style.

‘‘I enjoy it,’’ he said. ‘‘They still give me the freedom to play as a backrow player, so really I push in the scrum and then I play rugby.’’