LONDON (AP) — When England players are asked what spurs them for the Women’s Rugby World Cup final this Saturday, 2022 is always referenced.
If not for blowing the World Cup final that year to host New Zealand by a measly three points, England’s wait for the crown wouldn’t be at 11 years. Also, England’s staggering string of victories would be unbroken since 2019, instead of at 62 wins in 63 matches.
But that 2022 World Cup stings for Canada, also.
The splinter in Canada’s finger is losing the semifinal to England 26-19 in Auckland. Canada had England on the rack but couldn’t deliver the coup de grâce. The pain and frustration was all over the face of then-captain Sophie de Goede.
“There was no difference in talent out there today,” she said. “Just imagine what we can do with more games and more resources.”
They’re about to find out. More games and more resources have the Canadians believing they’ve ticked every box to try and topple England at Twickenham and win a first World Cup.
Since rugby went openly professional in 1995, the women’s sevens and 15s have replaced the men as Canada’s flagship teams. But Rugby Canada hasn’t had the means to contract them. No. 2-ranked Canada isn’t a fully professional outfit like No. 1 England but then neither does it feel like a second-class citizen as in 2022.
More than half of the 32-woman squad play for clubs in England, including captain Alex Tessier and de Goede. More are sprinkled at clubs in France and New Zealand, and strengthened by six players from the sevens team that won the Paris Olympics silver medal last year and world series bronze medal this year.
The amateurs on board include two firefighters, an engineer and a high school coach. There are 21 players back from 2022 along with coach Kevin Rouet. He was an assistant for three years until taking over before the 2022 World Cup.
“I’m French so when I moved to Canada I can see a big difference in terms of the willingness to work very hard and not complain which I think represents Canada rugby,” he said. “They know we aren’t the most well-resourced team but they move on very quickly and work hard on the field.
“It’s a good group, a fun group to coach, a tough group to coach and I can be direct with them, that’s what I like. They don’t care if I don’t cuddle them sometimes, they want the straight feedback. They’re excited and fun but also focused on our objective.”
Gathering the players from eight of Canada’s 13 vast provinces and territories, across six time zones, and giving them the best possible preparation for the World Cup prompted a campaign to raise Canadian $1 million ($723,000). Rugby Canada wasn’t coy in calling it Mission: Win Rugby World Cup 2025.
Pledges have reached 95% and funded training camps in California, Ontario and Belfast, and warmup tests in South Africa and Ireland.
Another big piece fell into place when de Goede returned in July after 13 months out from an ACL tear. Her impact has been huge. She leads the World Cup in carries, offloads and lineout takes, and contributed 55 points as that rugby rarity, a goalkicking forward. De Goede is nominated for world player of the year.
The impact of the team’s stellar results since 2022 was grasped last month when it was farewelled by a Canada-record crowd of 11,453 in Ottawa for a win against the United States.
The attention at home has skyrocketed as they’ve progressed at the World Cup, even drawing a good luck message from Canadian pop star Shania Twain. “I freaked out,” Twain fan and Canada fullback Julia Schell said.
Canada swept the pool games against Fiji, Wales and Scotland and blew away Australia 46-5 in the quarterfinals, after which Rouet accused his team of being “too Canadian, too nice.”
Next to be blitzed was two-time defending champion New Zealand. Canada handed the Black Ferns their first knockout loss in 34 years. Ruck speed, the fastest in the tournament, underpinned Canada soaring into its first World Cup final since 2014, when it lost to England 21-9 in Paris.
Rouet realized last year he had a team capable of winning the World Cup but he was lost for words by the breadth of his team’s dismantling of New Zealand. Tessier wasn’t.
“It’s a fact we have a very fast attack,” the captain said. “We’ve managed to build some depth since the last World Cup and it’s shown. We support each other on and off the pitch. When we connect, it’s beautiful.”
___
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby