Rugby player from Regina donning Team Canada's maple leaf in the south Pacific

Matthew Klimchuk started playing rugby as he was about to start high school at  Balfour Collegiate in Regina — now the 21-year-old is about to represent the Canadian men's national team in the South Pacific.

Klimchuk is the only Saskatchewan-born player selected for Team Canada's 32-man Tonga tour roster. The two countries will battle it out on the pitch on Aug. 10th and 15th.

Klimchuk said it's an honour to represent Saskatchewan at the national level.

"I am so proud to be from Saskatchewan, there aren't too many players kind of circulating around here from the Prairies," Klimchuk said. "I think it's the coolest thing ever to show us Prairie boys can be right up there."

The culture around the sport is one the things that makes it so special, he said.

"It's just the class and the mutual respect that most rugby players have toward each other," Klimchuk said. "You kick the heck out of each other for 80 minutes, then after you go buy the other guy a beer, a coke or whatever. " 

Klimchuk who played football and wrestled before starting rugby, likes the versatility of the sport. 

"You need to be a middle linebacker, a running back, a quarterback and a defensive lineman. There's so many different roles," Klimchuk said. "I think it's a really unique game in that sense. " 

Helping grow rugby in Saskatchewan

Klimchuk is the first rugby player from Saskatchewan to represent the men's national team since DTH van der Merwe, who played in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. 

Klimchuk hopes his presence on Team Canada can help younger rugby players from Saskatchewan. Klimchuk moved to Victoria, British Columbia during high school to boost his chances of furthering his rugby career.

"Saskatchewan is a place that needs to be highlighted because there are some phenomenal athletes in the Prairies and I think kids with a little more exposure and a little more access to the game could 100 per cent make it to a larger stage,"  Klimchuk said. 

Mark Discombe coached Klimchuk while he was playing for the Regina Rogues — a local amateur rugby club. He said it's been amazing to watch Klimchuk develop into the rugby player he is today. 

"Not too long ago we were practising with five other kids in the field behind Miller Comprehensive High School and Balfour Collegiate and then he came to a few of our Rogues practices and was a little shy, eventually he became one of the guys," Discombe said.

"Now he's off touring the world with some of our country's best players. It's a very cool thing to see. The team is very proud of him."

Discombe hopes Klimchuk's success will help the sport grow in Saskatchewan. He said it can be hard to recruit athletes because football, hockey and baseball are so popular.

"You can travel the world to play this sport, you can play until you're 50 or 60 years old, you can go on tours with all your friends and you can make the national team," Discombe said. 

"[Even] if you start playing when you're 15 or 16 you can still work hard and go play with some of the best people in the world if it's something you really want to do." 

Klimchuk has also played games in Brazil and the Netherlands with Team Canada. 

"Those trips were really cool, two places I don't think I would have ever gone to without rugby," he said.

Klimchuk and the rest of the national team travelled to Fiji for a training camp prior to their two matches. They fly to Tonga on Monday.