Ellerslie Rugby Park – The fan favourite at the Pacific Nations Cup lid-lifter was flushed with pride to wear the maple leaf in front of family and friends in Saturday’s showdown between Canada and the USA Eagles.
“It was awesome. It’s always good to come home and play for your country,” said a humbled Andy Tiedemann, a Team Canada prop since 2009, after the 16-9 victory in front of more than 3,500 spectators.
The loudest ovation of the match shook the pitch when Tiedemann subbed on in the 67th minute.
It was worth the wait for a long list of Tiedemann supporters. They ranged from former teammates, coaches and teachers from Lorne Akins – where Tiedemann first touched a rugby ball with the junior high school’s co-ed flag rugby program – and Paul Kane, where he played high school rugby and basketball, as well as starring in football with the St. Albert High Skyhawks; plus strong representation from the St. Albert Rugby Football Club where he shone as teenager with the U16 provincial championship team in 2004 and then made his senior team debut with the 2007 second division provincial champions.
“It was pretty exciting,” Tiedemann said with smile. “It was deep in my mind there that I wasn’t going to get on and I was going to be pretty angry with the coach (Kieran Crowley), but he put me in at the end so I was pretty happy.”
The last time Tiedemann graced the Ellerslie field was July 11, 2009 in the second leg of the World Cup qualifying series against the United States. Canada’s 41-18 victory clinched a spot at the World Cup.
“It instantly gave me flashbacks to 2009, my first year playing with the team, so it’s a good place to come back to and get another win,” Tiedemann said. “(In 2009) they beat us down in the States and we came up here and smashed them so that one was pretty sweet.”
Canada, which moved up one notch to 13th in the IRB world rankings after defeating the No. 16th-ranked United States, will battle their North American rivals Aug. 17 in Charleston, South Carolina and Aug. 24 in Toronto in the World Cup qualifier series.
“This was kind of a feeling each other out kind of game. I think the last game of the season will be pretty interesting,” said Tiedemann, 24, the second player in SARFC history to play for the senior national team and the first to scrum down at the World Cup of Rugby two years ago in New Zealand.
The six-foot, 275-pound brick wall is one of the young guns in the front row for Canada after working his way up though the national age-group ranks at the U17 level and the U19 and U20 worlds in Ireland and Wales before earning the first of his 15 caps against Wales in Toronto on May 30, 2009.
“Within the front row the biggest thing is as you get older you just get a bit wider and a bit stronger so that’s been a big help around the field. Although its a bit harder running it feels pretty good in the scrums and lineouts,” said Tiedemann, who competed for Alberta at the U18 level at the 2005 Canada Summer Games and the next year was named to the all-star team at the Rugby Canada National Championships Festival.
Tiedemann recently returned home after making his pro debut with FC Auch Gers. He was recruited to replace an injured player for the club based in Auch in Midi-Pyrenees in Rugby Pro D2, the second tier in the French professional league system.
“It was pretty interesting. I came in about seven games into the season so it was a bit of mix-it-in period there but once I was under the team culture it was pretty good fun. I learned a lot,” Tiedemann said. “All they want their big guys to do is scrum and that was a huge experience for me. I think I’ve grown leaps and bounds in that department.”
The former university player with the Victoria Vikes, winners of the 2010 Rounsefell Cup champions of British Columbia with Tiedemann in the line-up, saw more action on the road than at home in the 7,000-seat Stade Patrice Brocas stadium.
“The away games they like to play their foreigners, so I played a lot of away games and at home I was coming off the bench so that was pretty much how that went,” Tiedemann said. “It was pretty much smash-them-up kind of style of rugby over there. As you know in Europe it gets pretty rainy during the winter so there is a lot of pick and goes, a lot of kicking high balls and not too much throwing around like you would see in the New Zealand or South African league.”
Tiedemann is now a free agent and is eager to give pro rugby another shot.
“I got a taste of it now. It’s a pretty fun way to make a living so if you know of anyone that needs a tighthead prop send them my way,” said the 2012 captain of the Calgary-based Prairie Wolfpack in the Canadian Rugby Championship summer circuit. “It’s kind of touch and go right now. I’m hoping I hear something in the next month or so but if I don’t go overseas I will be playing Wolfpack.”
The next Pacific Nations tilt for Canada is June 5 against No. 14th-ranked Fiji in Ottawa.
Canada will also tackle No. 11th-ranked Tonga on June 8 in Kingston, Ont. and No. 15th-ranked Japan on June 19 in Nagoya, Japan.
“We’re in it to win it,” Tiedemann said.
SCRUM BALLS: Canada also has a match scheduled against No. 9th-ranked Ireland on June 15 in Toronto.
Fullback Connor Braid kicked three penalties and converted Canada’s only try by flanker John Moonlight in the 18th minute against the United States. A gallant defensive stand by Canada in front of its try zone with only a few minutes remaining preserved the win.
