Rugby roots takes Rudolph Osborne from South Africa to Hilltops

The road to the Saskatoon Hilltops roster for linebacker Rudolph Osborne has not been a traditional one by any means.

The third-year player was originally born in South Africa but said his family moved to Canada when he was just seven years old after they decided to flee their home country because of government turmoil.

“We moved here in 2012. Basically, my grandfather and my dad saw there was a (political and economic) storm coming in South Africa and they had the foresight to see that it was time to move,” he explained. “We picked Saskatchewan because it’s the best farmland in the world – we’re a long line of farmers in South Africa and it’s been great so far.”

Osborne and his family ended up purchasing land in Englefeld which is about 30 minutes east of Humboldt.

It was there Osborne grew up, went to school and tried to adapt to the North American culture and sports.

He admits growing up in a foreign country, it felt like he was missing something.

“In South Africa, there’s a very rich culture around rugby. Rugby is my favourite sport and since I was a little boy I played rugby,” he said. “My first gift my dad gave me was a rugby ball – so part of that was missing when I came to Canada and football kind of filled in that piece of me that was missing.”

Osborne tried to play hockey but realized that skating wasn’t his strong suit.

He had to wait until he was in Grade 8 to play football. He decided to play after someone from a neighbouring town came to his school and invited kids to play on their six-man football team.

Osborne put his hand up first when they asked, but initially, they said he was too young. Eventually, the coaches caved and let him play anyway.

“From then on out I just fell in love with the game because it resembles rugby and the physical nature of it,” he explained. “The position I play linebacker is very similar to playing rugby — you just tackle the guy and that’s when I decided I need to play football.”

His first time stepping on the field to play football he was originally penciled in to be a quarterback, but Osborne said that experiment didn’t last long.

“I had no idea what I was doing. I just wanted to run with the ball and tackle, but I couldn’t do that, I was a quarterback. Guys were way older than me. My grandpa actually was at my first game and came onto the field and was getting mad at guys, ‘Why are you hitting him every time?’ But it’s just the way the game works,” Osborne joked.

Osborne eventually transitioned to high school football once he was old enough and played in Humboldt.

He credits his mom for getting him where he is today as she would get up at 5 a.m. to drive him to the gym and pick him up after practice late at night.

After a successful high school career, Osborne was eventually recruited to the Hilltops where he is entering his third year.

“I had a great football coach in high school, his name was Shaun Gardiner and he’s great friends with Jeff Yausie, my linebacker coach right now. After I finished my senior year he said if I would like to take things further he can put in a good word for me and the rest would be up to me,” he explained.

“I took him on from that and basically from the first winter workout I set my mind to becoming a Hilltop and said nothing is going to stop me. From then on out I put my nose to the ground and started working.”

Osborne said he’s loved being a Hilltop for the last three seasons and credits his teammates for pushing each other to make everyone better.

“It’s been really great being around the culture of a very dedicated and a great group of guys. I feel like we practice the hardest out of anyone and that’s how you get better by surrounding yourself with great linebackers and running backs to not only make you more physical, but more intelligent when it comes to playing football,” Osborne said.

“That’s something that I’m appreciative of, not just the coaches, but my teammates. You’re making everyone better in the process.”

Osborne says this year he wants to continue being a great playmaker on special teams and that he can step up and take charge of his role.

Next year, he wants to be in the conversation for a starter’s role and make the team better.

“What I want this year is to solidify myself not only a great practice player but a great player on the field and set myself up for the larger role next year,” he added.

The Hilltops face the Regina Thunder on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.