Jacob Ince led the way as the Guelph Gryphons won their first men’s national championship last November, and the midfielder was rewarded with a spot on Canada’s all-new Nations Rugby World Cup in July.
“I’ve never played a professional game,” said Ince, after getting the chance to rub shoulders with Test veterans Lucas Rumball and Ben LeSage. The 23-year-old then had the rather rare experience of making it through the debut week of a Test twice.
Ince continued to reach even greater heights after being named for a potential debut in Canada’s Nations Cup opener against Spain in Edmonton. But the center was an unused substitute in draw 42, delaying his debut by another week.
The then-unrestricted prospect went to the locker room after the game, but he didn’t let the experience get him down. “I’ll have another chance,” and that chance came just seven days later against another team that was in the men’s game Rugby World Cup in 2027
Coach Stephen Meehan selected Ince on the bench as Canada prepared to meet Canada, and this time the university national champion achieved another dream. Ince played 17 minutes off the bench before being elevated to the starting side the following week.
“It’s an experience you can’t put into words,” Ince said RugbyPass.
“The emotions when you’re named in the team and then you get an upgrade. You get all the messages; all your friends, all your family, all your old teammates, all your old coaches texting the coach. It’s just a real surreal experience.
“On the day of the match your emotions are very high… you try to control your emotions because you are going to play for the national team. Then it is obvious that the moment that has passed is really surreal.
“Doing it at home was really special. Running out onto the field, hearing all the fans clapping and just looking back and really being present and immersed in the moment, but then you get on the field and you have a job to do. Just the whole experience was amazing.”
It may have been Ince’s first foray into actually playing a professional match, but the Canadian has spent time in some impressive high-performance environments. Ince trained with Toronto Arrows before heading to Taranaki, New Zealand.
Ince left for New Zealand’s North Island around April 2024, after receiving an offer to play for New Plymouth club Spotswood United. An opportunity to join Taranaki Bulls a larger team followed, which meant working with now All black people assistant coach Neil Barnes.
Barnes could be playing snakes and ladders or working with the All Blacks, either way the coach has “the same shit about me that I want to win”. The former Tarnaki Bulls boss famously produced the quote after being appointed assistant coach of the All Blacks.
He offered insight into what the coach brings to the All Blacks environment and an approach that has served Tarnaki well over multiple provincial seasons. Barnes helped lead Tarnaki to the 2023 NPC title and Ince joined the wider set-up the following year.
“I just loved every second of it, man. The whole experience; new culture, new rugby and meeting new people, it was a real surreal experience,” Ince said.
“You have a different style of rugby over there. I definitely had to get used to the physicality of it. I think after the first game it was probably the most sore my body has ever been so it definitely toughened me up a bit.”
“Luckily I had some good performances in the first half of the club season which helped me get into the first team… it was a really good experience. I got to learn from some really good coaches.”
Ince took seventh place overall Utah Warriors in the 2025 MLR college draft, but the team suspended the club shortly thereafter. At the Canadian Men’s University Rugby Championship, Ince continued to lead the charge towards history.
The Gryphons fell time and time again in the semi-finals, before going one better in November. Ince played with some of those teammates for five, six years, and at the end of 2025, Guelph defeated a rival on the way to the big dance.
On the 16thth November in Montreal, the Gryphons triumphed in the final 18-13 against the Ecole de technologie superieure Piranhas. Ince was awarded a spot at outside center in the All-Stars tournament, the Gryphons reported.
“To win the championship was unreal. There was a group of us that entered together, a few of my teammates and close friends, and we entered together six years ago.
“We couldn’t get over that hump to get to the finals. Then this year we put together a really strong team and we had really good coaches and I think we came together really well and we got over that hump.”
“It was really special because we’ve all been together for so long and we’ve been down so many times in that game. When we had the chance to play in the final, we weren’t going to let it pass us by.
“The guys really stepped up and we played a really good game. To lift that championship, it wasn’t just one year of hard work, it felt like six years of hard work and it was an unreal feeling.”
Ince made his first start at Test level during the July international period, fitting in at center in the win over Zimbabwe. The Canadian who now has three Tests came off the bench against Japan last weekend but returned to the starting side to face Fiji.
Fiji are the reigning Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup champions, winning the titles with victories over Japan in both 2024 and 2025. Ince will link up in midfield with LeSage, who has played 40 Tests in Canada red.
“It’s a great opportunity for me. Being a young guy and seeing someone with so much experience, that’s where I want to be one day. So I’m just taking little cues from what he’s doing and seeing how he holds up.”
“He’s a very calm person and really well spoken… he can really calm the field and refocus us. Honestly, just being around him, and not just in rugby but off the field… it was definitely a good experience to see him hold his own.”
