Canada Defeats South Africa 66-7: Face USA Next Saturday
from Rugby Canada
Canadas Womens Rugby Team won their first game of 2023 by a convincing score of 66-7 over South Africa on Saturday, marking the first time Canada has played the Springbok Women in 10 years.
South Africa was forced to play with 14 for the majority of the match following a red card to Catha Jacobs for a high tackle in the sixth minute of play.
Canada scored five unanswered tries in the first half, with captain Sophie de Goede kicking clean conversions on each of them, to take a 35-0 lead at the break. DaLeaka Menin opened scoring in the ninth minute of play, grabbing a loose ball at the try line.
Sabrina Poulin made a significant impact offensively throughout the match, scoring her first try less than two minutes later, finding space to run through South Africas defence.
While momentarily putting on pressure in Canadas end, South Africa lost their own lineout at the halfway line, giving back the momentum to the Canadians and resulting in the third try of the game from Sarah-Maude Lachance.
At the 30 minute mark, Poulin found space to run down the sideline and chipped the ball ahead to Paige Farries, who touched it down for another Canadian try. With the first half coming to a close, Fancy Bermudezplaying in her first game for Canadas Womens Rugby Teampushed past South Africa to score her first international 15s try.
We only got the chance to do two and a half practices before this game. We came five days before the game, so [the plan was] to try a lot of stuff, said Head Coach Kevin Rouet. We had a lot of mistakes for sure, but the first half we tried, and we scored a lot of points. We could have scored more, but after just two and a half practices Im very proud of them. We know we have to refine all those mistakes, all those offloads, all those passes on the ground, so theres a lot to work on for sure, but theres a lot of positives.
The second half opened with another try from Poulin, who received a pass off a maul within the 22 metre line. With two more tries from Julia Schell and Marie-Pier Fauteux, and conversions from de Goede and Emma Taylor, Canadas lead increased further to 54-0.
South Africas only points of the game came in the 64th minute, a try from Nomawethu Mabenge and a conversion from Libbie Janse van Rensburg.
Bermudez responded five minutes later with her second of the game, catching an offload and weaving her way through South Africas defence to place the ball between the posts. Taylor followed this up with her second conversion of the game.
Canada notched one last try before the final whistle, with Bermudez passing to Renee Gonzalez (the tenth player to contribute points for Canada) to make the final score 66-7.
Our plan and focus was certainly aggression, said de Goede. We knew South Africa had a really strong collision dominance at the World Cup and that was something we were going to have to try to match if not exceed in this game to come out on top and get the quick ruck ball that we were hoping for. I think we did a pretty good job with that, but I think we can be even more dominant with our collisions and our clear outs so that we can create a nice clean ball for our backs.
This match also saw Cassandra Tuffnail and Mahalia Robinson earn their first caps for Canada, entering the game in the second half.
Canada will face the United States in the first game of the 2023 Pacific Four Series on Saturday April 1 at 5:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET) in Madrid. Canada currently holds a seven game winning streak against the USA dating back to July 2019, and last played the Americans in October at the Rugby World Cup in pool play and quarter finals.
More information on the Pacific Four Series, including scores and results, can be found on the official website at world.rugby/tournaments/pacific-four-series. Broadcast details for the Pacific Four Series will be announced shortly.
*Canada Women Name Roster for South Africa Match – Live Stream 8am PDT on Saturday*
from Rugby Canada
Head Coach Kevin Rouet has named the match day roster for Canadas Womens Rugby Teams test match against South Africa.
Canada will play South Africa on Saturday March 25 at 4:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET) at Estadio Nacional de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain. This will be the first time that Canadas Womens Rugby Team has played South Africa in 10 years, having last met at the 2013 Nations Cup.
Edmontons Fancy Bermudez will earn her first international 15s cap on Saturday. Bermudez debuted for Canadas Womens Sevens Team in September 2021 at the Fast Four tournament in Vancouver. She has since played in 51 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series matches, scoring 45 points.
Cassandra Tuffnail and Mahalia Robinson could earn their first caps as well. A former University of Guelph number eight, Tuffnail now plays in the UK for Richmond Rugby as a loose-head prop. Robinson is a standout fly half from Concordia University, who led her team with 55 points in the 2022-23 season and scored all 24 of Concordias points in the RSEQ bronze medal match.
Next Saturday, April 1, Canada will face the USA in the first match of 2023 Pacific Four Series at 5:00pm local time (8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET) in Madrid, kicking off a campaign to qualify for the top tier of the inaugural WXV global womens international 15s competition. The roster for this game will be announced next week.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Canadas match against South Africa will be livestreamed by Spains rugby union at ferugby.tv. Registration is required, but access is free.
SPAIN TOUR SCHEDULE
South Africa vs. Canada March 25, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. local time 8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET
USA vs. Canada April 1, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. local time 8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET
CANADAS WOMENS RUGBY TEAM MATCH DAY ROSTER vs SOUTH AFRICA
1. Brittany Kassil (Guelph, ON) Guelph Redcoats RFC
2. Emily Tuttosi (Souris, MB) Calgary Hornets / Exeter Chiefs
3. DaLeaka Menin (Vulcan, AB) Exeter Chiefs
4. Tyson Beukeboom (Uxbridge, ON) Cowichan RFC
5. Courtney Holtkamp (Rimbey, AB) Red Deer Titans Rugby
6. Fabiola Forteza (Quebec City, QC) Club de rugby de Québec / Stade Bordelais
7. Sara Svoboda (Belleville, ON) Brantford Harlequins / Belleville Bulldogs / Loughborough Lightning
8. Sophie de Goede (Victoria, BC) Castaway Wanderers RFC
9. Justine Pelletier (Rivière-du-Loup, QC) Club de rugby de Québec / Stade Bordelais
10. Julia Schell (Uxbridge, ON) Guelph Redcoats / Castaway Wanderers
11. Paige Farries (Red Deer, AB) Westshore RFC / Worcester Warriors
12. Alexandra Tessier (Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, QC) Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue RFC
13. Fancy Bermudez (Edmonton, AB) NorWester Athletic Association / Westshore RFC
14. Sarah-Maude Lachance (Victoriaville, QC) Club de rugby de Québec / Lons Section Paloise
15. Sabrina Poulin (St-Georges, QC) TMRRFC / Eibar Rugby Taldea
16. Gillian Boag (Calgary, AB) Capilano RFC
17. Maya Montiel (Dieppe, NB) University of Ottawa / Saracens
18. Cassandra Tuffnail (Heidelberg, ON) Fergus Highland RFC / Richmond FC / Brunel University London
19. Emma Taylor (Scotsburn, NS) Halifax RFC
20. Marie-Pier Fauteux (Sherbrooke, QC) Club de rugby de Québec / Université Laval
21. Laetitia Royer (Loretteville, QC) St-Anne-de-Bellevue / ASM Romagnat
22. Mahalia Robinson (Fulford, QC) TMRRFC / Concordia Université
23. Renee Gonzalez (Scarborough, ON) Westshore RFC / University of Victoria