Rugby homecoming for St. Albert native
Canadian team prop Tiedemann eager to face U.S.
Andrew Tiedemann’s sport of choice doesn’t provide many homecomings, so when Rugby Canada’s national men’s squad comes to Edmonton, the St. Albert native is all too happy to make the most of it.
The Canadians will kick off a busy summer of competition this Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Ellerslie Rugby Park when they host the United States in the opener of the five-team Pacific Nations Cup, which will wrap up later next month.
For Tiedemann, this weekend’s game will be just the second time playing for Canada in Edmonton. He was part of a win over the U.S. back in a 2009 World Cup qualifier at the south side rugby park, where a crowd of 3,000 is expected Saturday.
“I was pretty lucky. In my first summer playing for Canada we ended up playing our last game in Edmonton, so that was a nice welcome home. Hopefully, things go as well this time around,” said the 24-year-old Tiedemann. “I’ve played a lot of club and high school games out at Ellerslie, so I’m used to the surroundings there.
“It’s always nice to get back to your home field.”
The game is just the start of a busy summer for the Canadians, as Tiedemann is part of a relatively young squad that will start the fiveteam tournament without several key players, who are either injured, or still competing with pro clubs in Europe.
“It does lead to a bit of an inconsistency in the squad, but hopefully we can move past that and look to build,” said Canadian captain Aaron Carpenter. “We have a busy summer, so having as many guys in the squad will only help us in the future and build depth in Canada, because old guys (like us) can’t last forever.”
Tiedemann will be one of the veterans leaned on by Canada over the next several months on a journey that culminates in a two-game 2015 World Cup qualifying series against the Americans in August.
This year is just the latest rugby-filled summer for Tiedemann, who’s come a long way since being introduced to the sport through a coed flag rugby program at Lorne Akins Junior High School.
The prop hasn’t looked back since, playing both football and rugby at Paul Kane High School, while also honing his skills with the St. Albert Football Rugby Club.
While those experiences had Tiedemann hooked on the game, it wasn’t until a trip with the Canadian under-17 program to England did the dream of playing for the national senior men’s team start to take shape.
“That’s where I really saw the popularity of the sport,” Tiedemann recalled. “Seeing the worldwide scale of the sport was pretty interesting to me and thought why not travel the world for free. It’s pretty cool.”
Since that moment, Tiedemann has accomplished that goal, playing for Canada all over the rugby world. In addition to his travels with the national team, Tiedemann got his first taste of pro this past season in France.
Playing with FC Auch Gers in the French second division, Tiedemann got an opportunity to hone his skills in a country that finished runner-up to the famed New Zealand All Blacks in the most recent World Cup, back in 2011.
“The big points in France are they love their lineouts and their scrums, which are the set pieces. That’s what they’re known for, the French national team,” Tiedemann said of the style of play in France. “I definitely would say I picked up a lot and learned a lot from those guys.”
“The D2 has tons of international players. There’s Australians, French internationals, lots of New Zealanders kicking around, so every weekend you’re getting tested by those guys.”
While Tiedemann, who signed on with Auch as an injury replacement, didn’t sign back on with the French club, he remains optimistic another pro opportunity will come his way after taking advantage of his first taste of pro.
“Fingers crossed something else is going to pop up, because France was a wonderful opportunity. It’s France, you can’t ask for much else. You get to learn a new language, meet new people, try out tasty food, it’s pretty awesome,” Tiedemann said.