NAGATO, 20 Sep - Ben LeSage is hoping to engineer his own slice of rugby fame when Canada get another shot at playing the favourites New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup 2019.

Having juggled his engineering studies and rugby demands, LeSage (pictured above) is relishing the chance to make his mark against tournament heavyweights the All Blacks and South Africa.

Rather than running scared, he wants to emulate the feat of his team-mate and fellow engineer Conor Trainor, who, in 2011, became the only player this century to score two tries against the All Blacks in a World Cup game.

"He's had a very successful career after that and maybe that was a springboard," said the centre, who is playing in his first World Cup. "It's exciting to test yourself against the best and play against teams that you watched growing up. When trying to get a contract, if you show well against some of those who are considered the best in the world, that helps put you on the map."

After prioritising his engineering studies for almost six years, his focus is now fully on rugby's biggest tournament and he plans to turn professional after it finishes.

"I've never played teams of that calibre," he said, referring to the Pool B opposition. "I've played against Scotland, which was very eye-opening. I've played against Fiji. I’ve played against some very good teams but, when you talk about the All Blacks and the Springboks, that’s another level."

He added: "For my classmates, I was definitely the rugby player who happened to be in an engineering class, showing up with random bruises and cuts on my face, week in and week out, or disappearing from class for a month here and a month there. 

 

"But then again, on the rugby team, I was the one who was missing out on the extra social events or a few of the additional practices where I had an exam and I couldn't quite make it to everything. I walked the fine line and, in my mind, struck a good balance between the two."

"Now it's exciting because I'm able to dedicate myself full time to rugby, where I'm not staying up too late working on studies. I can be in the gym every day. There's no exam period where things might slip a little bit. I've seen the steady progression as I've started through the summer. Playing rugby full time, I can see that improvement already."

"I really liked the engineering degree and my passion was automation. Whether that's as a technical engineer, who is doing the actual design and testing or from a business side and doing some of the implementation, I've still got to figure out what I'm most interested in and best at. That's what I intend to explore in parallel with my rugby career so whenever it’s over I can dive right in."

Firstly, LeSage and the Canadians must negotiate Italy on Thursday, 26 September, before the All Blacks loom on 2 October.

RNS ls/dh/mj/mr