Steeves ready to ruck in front of hometown crowd

Kyle Steeves is living a dream that he never imagined.

Steeves ready to ruck in front of hometown crowd Winnipegger honoured to wear Maple Leaf in Saturday rugby clash To continue reading, please subscribe: Digital Subscription One year of digital access for only $205* - Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com - Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper - Access News Break, our award-winning app - Play interactive puzzles *First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35).

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Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks. Kyle Steeves is living a dream that he never imagined.

It wasn’t long ago that the 26-year-old pondered what career he would choose to pursue. Professional rugby never entered his consciousness. As a wide-eyed teen on St. Paul’s High School’s rugby team, Steeves didn’t think much further than which team he would line up against that week.

He enjoyed the physical nature of the sport, but in his eyes, it was never more than an excuse to lay a big hit. “To be honest, I didn’t know professional rugby was an option when I was coming through high school. I didn’t know that it was a thing or that rugby was even that big, so when it all kind of came around, I was pretty shocked that it was going to be my only job that I was just there to play rugby,” Steeves said in a recent phone interview.

“That was pretty spectacular. So I’m pretty lucky that I was able to just get paid to run around the field.” Thinking back to that time has made the lead-up to this weekend all the more anticipated for Steeves.

On Saturday, he and the rest of the world-ranked No. 25 Canadian men’s national rugby union will face No. 24 Zimbabwe at Princess Auto Stadium in the third match of pool play in the inaugural World Rugby Nations Cup (7 p.m.). It’ll be the first time in 33 years that Team Canada scrums in the provincial capital, and the first time in two years that Steeves laces up in his hometown. “I kind of lost count after a while,” said Steeves, who is expecting more than 50 friends and family in the stands.

“I got quite a large family on my mom’s side, and I actually have a lot of family on my dad’s side that’s coming as well. I lost count a while ago, but I’m sure I’m gonna be overwhelmed when it happens.” Steeves was a multi-sport athlete who naturally gravitated to football and wrestling because of his larger build.

Perhaps he would’ve had a future on the mat had he decided to pursue it heavily, but it always made sense that rugby became the avenue he chose. He grew up watching his older brother and sister on the pitch and had an affinity for the sport before he ever suited up himself. Both his siblings played at the club level after graduating high school, but never pursued it seriously.

That’s what set Steeves apart. After playing for the Manitoba Wombats with his older brother, doors began to open. He was invited to play for the national U18 men’s team and eventually the Rugby Canada National Development Academy in Langford, B.C., where he continued to grow.

In 2022, he notched his first international cap in a match against Namibia. Steeves still had no idea where his next step would take him, but he was more than happy to take the ride. “I think I was kind of naturally drawn to rugby with the family and everything, and it was just something that I ended up being pretty good at, just with the contact involvement and everything like that,” he said, crediting his siblings for their unwavering support throughout the years.

“And then I did have some coaches that were really influential on me; Elias Fiebelkorn was the longest coach that I had in high school, and he was just phenomenal in terms of pushing me to be better, and he always had feedback for me that I could improve on.” Next thing he knew, Steeves was playing professionally in the U.S.-based Major League Rugby with the Dallas Jackals for two seasons and then in Boston with the New England Free Jacks, who won the MLR championship last year. “I think once I got a taste of playing some higher level rugby, it’s kind of addictive.”

This year, he took his game a step further when he travelled to the Land Down Under to play for the Hunter Wildfires in Australia’s Shute Shield competition. “I think once I got a taste of playing some higher level rugby, it’s kind of addictive, and you want to keep going,” Steeves said. “You want to keep seeing how far you can go, you want to try and be the best.”

Winnipeg is the last stop on the national team’s home summer tour in the Nations Cup. They played a pair of matches in Edmonton earlier this month, settling for a draw against Spain then falling to Portugal last weekend. Canada will play the second of a double-header on Saturday, which begins with Portugal facing Tonga at 3:45 p.m. Last month, Steeves was the lone Manitoban named to the Canadian men’s national rugby team that will play in next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.

The 6-1, 250-pounder is one of three props — the tighthead prop and the loosehead prop anchor the front row of a scrum — in an ongoing battle for a starting spot, trying to impress second-year head coach Stephen Meehan. “His physical strengths — look, he’s a strong guy, particularly from a lower body point of view,” Meehan said. “He has the capability of producing good speed for a tighthead prop, so if we can get him combining that with a good sense of rugby timing, if you like, there’s some opportunities there for him to really help us out certainly in our general play, in our attack once that set piece is finished.”

Meehan has been impressed by what he’s seen from Steeves in the short time working with him. The coach credited the Manitoban for going to Australia to get more reps on the pitch. “I thought that that was an indication of somebody who really has a desire to play for Canada, is really looking for some ways of improving his game,” Meehan said.

“That’s obviously a point of character, I suppose. Physically, he can be quite dynamic, and from that point we want to see if we can help him develop in the areas that we can really make use of his physical strengths.” Meehan took over a struggling Canadian squad in need of a new direction in December 2024.

The building process can be long, but he remains encouraged by his side’s progress as it builds toward its first appearance since 2019 in the Rugby World Cup. “Some of the challenges, I always refer to them as fun challenges; that’s the first and foremost because we know that we’re in a good position,” Meehan said. “Just trying to really improve the depth of our knowledge about the players, that’s one of the challenges, so that you can really sort of help players develop and improve, and understand the areas that they’re really strong at and the areas that need a little bit of work.”

Canada will be the lowest-ranked of the 24 countries who qualified in the expanded World Cup tournament and will have a tough draw as a result. They are pooled with No. 6 Argentina, No. 8 Fiji and No. 15 Spain, and will look to curb an 11-match winless drought that dates back to 2011 and emerge from the pool stage for the second time ever (1991). Canada’s return to the world stage has been a long time coming for many.

And for Steeves, it’ll be a moment he never knew was possible. “Well, it means a lot,” Steeves said of being the lone Manitoban. “Playing with Team Canada is probably one of the biggest honours that I’ve had in my life, and being able to support the team and represent my country and everyone that’s here.

“There’s obviously so many kids in Manitoba that are playing rugby and maybe don’t know — like I did — that there was that next step, so if I can go and play, and put on a good show, and maybe show some of those kids that it is possible to go further in the sport, and just how many opportunities there are, I just want to be a good example for all of them, and obviously make everyone back home, and my family, proud.” winnipegfreepress.com/joshuafreysam Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press.

Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

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