HE’D love to one day be a Canuck but right now Jason Gagnier is enjoying being a Pirate ... well mostly.
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The last round slosh wasn’t so enjoyable.
The Canadian native commented afterwards he’d never played in that wet a condition, although he has played in snow.
It was the second-rower’s third run on game after joining the club this season.
Hailing from the west coast of British Columbia, the 23-year old was a comparatively late-comer to rugby.
“I didn’t start playing rugby until I was 16,” he said.
There was no real junior system like there is here.
“Back home they’re just starting to get into juniors,” he said.
He spent his younger days carving up the slopes, and was a junior nationals snowboarder.
After catching the rugby bug and keen to play a bit of rugby overseas, Gagnier posted his profile on Inside Running Rugby.
“I was supposed to go to Perth,” he said.
“Pirates saw my highlights video and liked it.”
So they got in touch, and liking what he heard he decided to head to Tamworth instead.
“It’s been good. All the guys are welcoming,” he said.
It did take him a few weeks to find his feet.
“I set a goal for myself to play first grade by the Magpies game,” he said.
As it was he made his starting debut a week earlier.
Like many before him, he has found the style of game very different to what he was used to.
“Just the speed of the game,” he said.
“They just run. It’s way faster than back home.”
Particularly at the breakdown.
“Back home it’s slower at the breakdown, you’re trying to set everything up,” he said.
Here sides crave quick ball.
These days a second rower, Gagnier didn’t always play there.
“When I started playing I was at 10,” he said.
“I’ve played every position on the field except for nine in my life.”
A provincial representative for British Columbia in both sevens and 15s, Gagnier said his goal eventually is to be playing senior men’s 15s for Canada.
More immediately it’s helping Pirates rise back to the top of the Central North ranks.
They are tracking along pretty well and are coming off a hard-fought 8-nil win over Walcha.
“It was very tight, tough and physical,” Gagnier said.
“It could have gone either way.”
“The defence was outstanding for us. They have two Country players in their backline and we were able to hold them scoreless.”
He thought it was probably their best defensive effort of the season.
“We held them on the goalline a couple of times,” he said.
They’ve got Gunnedah this weekend and then the big one against Narrabri.
