Tyler Ardron joins Jeff Hassler at the Liberty Stadium
Ospreys Rugby are delighted to announce the signing of Tyler Ardron, Rugby Canada’s current player of the year.
The news comes just 24 hours after the region announced that his international colleague Jeff Hassler has also put pen to paper on a deal to play for the Ospreys next season.
21-year old Ardron, from Ontario, is a blindside flanker who is also capable of playing in the second row or at number eight, standing 1.94m tall and weighing 110kg.
He plays his domestic rugby for Ontario Blues and has risen to prominence on the international front over the last 12 months. Having made his full international debut on the same day as Hassler, in a 28-25 win over USA last June, he then captained Canada ‘A’ in the 2012 IRB Americas Rugby Championship, against ‘A’ teams from USA and Argentina, as well as the Uruguayan national team.
Ardron took part in last November’s international series in Colwyn Bay, and won the man of the match award in his sixth full international appearance, a Pacifc Nations Cup win over USA at the end of May. He is currently part of the Canadian squad that will also face Japan and Tonga in the same competition throughout June, as well as playing a touring Ireland team, and won his 7th cap on Wednesday in the win over Fiji.
Like Hassler, Ardron has also been a regular in the Candian sevens team on the IRB Sevens Series over the last year scoring six tries in 35 matches on the circuit.
Speaking about signing for the Ospreys, Ardron said:
“The Ospreys are a club with a first class reputation and this is a great opportunity for me to go into an environment that is recognised as one of the best in world rugby.
“To be joining a team which has won the PRO12 four times and is providing so many players to Wales and the Lions is incredible. The prospect of being an Osprey myself and joining up with the squad for pre-season is an exciting one that I’m really looking forward to.”
Andy Lloyd, Rugby Operations Manager at the Ospreys, added:
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Tyler to Ospreylia having yesterday confirmed the signing of his compatriot and team-mate Jeff Hassler.
“Tyler is another individual that we’ve watched very closely over the course of the last year and we believe he will prove to be a real asset to the team. He is an outstanding athlete with a real physical presence, combined with an excellent game awareness, and he will provide genuine competition to the players already here.
“As with all our signings, we’ve worked hard to find someone who meets our profile, and we’ve carried out due diligence to ensure that Tyler is the type of individual who will bring something to this organisation, demanding high standards while always striving to improve themselves on and off the field.
“He has shown while on international duty that he is an exciting individual capable of competing against world class players and we have had to fight off considerable interest to secure his services. We look forward to seeing him at Llandarcy later this summer.”
Ardron follows on from fellow Canadian international Hassler and Italy scrum-half Tito Tebaldi in signing for next season, while 13 players have also signed new deals with the Ospreys ahead of 2013/14.