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Tyler Ardron's time with the Chiefs comes to an end

By Online Editors
Canada captain Tyler Ardron shares a laugh with All Blacks midfielder Sonny Bill Williams. (Photo by Hannah Peters / Getty Images)

The Chiefs will bid farewell to versatile forward Tyler Ardron at the end of June.

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The twenty-nine-year-old Canadian forward has signed a two-year deal with French club Castres Olympique. Ardron has been a significant contributor to the Chiefs squad since his debut in 2018. The versatile forward has been a consistent performer and an asset for the squad with his ability to play lock, flanker and number eight.

Ardron is grateful for the opportunities the Chiefs Rugby Club and Bay of Plenty Rugby Union provided him.

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“I’ve loved my time here in New Zealand with the Gallagher Chiefs and Bay of Plenty Steamers. The supporters and fans of the Chiefs and Chiefs region are incredible. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to explore New Zealand and meet a number of great people along the way.”

“I am exceptionally thankful to the Chiefs coaching staff, especially Barnsey (Neil Barnes) for taking the chance on me and bringing me over. I am also grateful to the team in the Bay of Plenty. Clayton and the team over the hill have been fantastic as well and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with both teams.”

While Ardron was expected to play a full season with the Chiefs, the coronavirus pandemic has scuppered those plans. Ardron will conclude his time with the Chiefs on Tuesday 30 June.

Ardron has 30 appearances to his name in the Chiefs jersey but has been kept out of the squad in recent weeks due to a niggly hamstring string.

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At the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, Ardron captained the Canada side which competed in a pool alongside New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Namibia.

The talented utility forward has previously played for Ospreys in Wales.

– with Chiefs Rugby

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Flankly 1 hours ago
The AI advantage: How the next two Rugby World Cups will be won

If rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.

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