Canada Defeat USA 50-17 to Open Women’s Pacific Four Series: Full Match Video
The women’s XVs team continues to impress under the coaching of Kevin Rouet and the player leadership of Sophie de Goede. The performance of the team challenges some standard beliefs.
1. Players have to be playing top level rugby and getting lots of games. Sophie de Goede didn’t return to the Saracens after the World Cup but took four months off from top level rugby and yet won Player of the Match. Tyson Beukeboom plays Division One rugby for Cowichan but was one of the best 2nd row players.
2. You need to import top level coaches from abroad to succeed. Kevin Rouet is an engineer who coached at Laval University and at the provincial level in Quebec. It’s reminiscent of Ian Birtwell who was a research scientist in Vancouver and coached at the provincial level in BC, he led the men’s XVs team to a World Cup quarter-final in 1991. A team headed to the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame.
The conclusion is when you find top level rugby athletes and coaches with proven analytical abilities outside of rugby, you can customize the rules accordingly.
from Rugby Canada
Canadas Womens Rugby Team opened the 2023 Pacific Four Series with a massive 50-17 win over the USA, extending Canadas win streak against the Americans to eight games.
A well-controlled maul led to Emily Tuttosi scoring the first try of the game for Canada in the ninth minute of play, followed by a nicely executed conversion from captain Sophie de Goede, who kicked five conversions on eight attempts in windy conditions.
Accelerating through the contact area to pull away from the Americans defence, Poulin scored her first try of the game in the 22nd minute. Her second try came just over 10 minutes later, as the Canadians demonstrated their ability to recycle the ball quickly and cleanly.
The USA scored their first points of the game on a penalty, but Fancy Bermudez maintained Canadas momentum, making her mark in just her second cap for Canadas Womens Rugby Team by fending off USA defenders to further the score.
With a comfortable 26-3 lead at half-time, Canada went on to nearly double their score in the second half. Forcing an error after surviving immense pressure, Canada was the first to strike in the second half, with a long pass from Tyson Beukeboom out wide to Sarah-Maude Lachance.
We play the Americans a lot and they always come out firing, said de Goede. We knew we needed to front up right from the beginning and they definitely put pressure on us, so I was happy with the way we responded to that and started to put points on the board and build a lead.
Hope Rogers scored the Americans first try of the game in the 54th minute, at which point Sara Svoboda was also assessed a yellow card. Canada was still effective offensively despite playing with 14, with Beukeboom scoring off a lineout. The USA scored their final try and conversion in the 65th minute, making the score 40-17.
Two more players scored for Canada before the final whistle; Emma Taylor powered over the try line after receiving a pass from de Goede, and Gillian Boag scored following a well carried out switch play on a lineout.
Offensively we wanted to move the ball and play as a collective, said Head Coach Kevin Rouet. It was good to see a lot of good things on the field collectively. For sure there were some mistakes, but just moving the ball, playing together, was fun to see. For sure we want to win because we want to show that we are a winning team on this new cycle, but overall, we wanted to just play without pressure. Its good to build some good offensive and defensive mindset and move on with that.
Canadas Womens Rugby Team will meet New Zealand and Australia in the third and fourth rounds of the Pacific Four Series this July in Canada. Dates, location, and ticket details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Contested by Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA, this is the third edition of the Pacific Four Series, and the second to feature all four countries. Qualification for the inaugural WXV, a new three-tier annual global womens international 15s competition, is on the line, with the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series qualifying for the top WXV tier and the bottom team headed for tier 2.
More information on the Pacific Four Series can be found on the official website at world.rugby/tournaments/pacific-four-series.
*Canada Names Team to Face USA to Open Pacific Four Series: Live Streamed 8am PDT on Saturday*
from Rugby Canada
Head Coach Kevin Rouet has named the match day roster for Canadas Womens Rugby Teams first match of the 2023 Pacific Four Series against the USA.
Canada will play the USA on Saturday April 1 at 5:00 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. 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 the quarter finals.
At the end of February, World Rugby announced the return of the Pacific Four Series. Contested by Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA, this will be the third edition of the series, and the second to feature all four countries. Australia and New Zealand will meet in June in Australia, with all four teams converging on Canada in July for the final matches of the series. Qualification for the inaugural WXV, a new three-tier annual global womens international 15s competition, is on the line, with the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series qualifying for the top WXV tier and the bottom team headed for tier 2.
A number of players will reach significant milestones this weekend, with DaLeaka Menin playing in her 45th game for Canada, Brittany Kassil in her 35th, and Fabiola Forteza in her 20th. Finisher Gillian Boag also has the potential to earn her 20th cap.
I think after today our focus is definitely going to be on finishing, Sophie de Goede said following Canadas 66-7 test match win over South Africa last Saturday in Madrid. Ten different players secured points for Canada, and Fancy Bermudez, Cassandra Tuffnail and Mahalia Robinson earned their first international 15s caps. We created quite a few opportunities, but handling errors and some little connection pieces let us down, so well look to execute on more of the opportunities that we create [against the USA].
HOW TO FOLLOW
Canadas match against the USA will be livestreamed by World Rugby at www.world.rugby/tournaments/pacific-four-series
CANADAS WOMENS RUGBY TEAM MATCH DAY ROSTER vs USA
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. Alexandra Tessier (Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, QC) Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue RFC
11. Paige Farries (Red Deer, AB) Westshore RFC / Worcester Warriors
12. Sara Kaljuvee (Ajax, ON) Toronto Scottish / Westshore 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. Alexandria Ellis (Ottawa, ON) Barrhaven Scottish / Saracens
19. Emma Taylor (Scotsburn, NS) Halifax RFC
20. Marie-Pier Fauteux (Sherbrooke, QC) Club de rugby de Québec / Université Laval
21. Pamphinette Buisa (Gatineau, QC) Ottawa Irish
22. Mahalia Robinson (Fulford, QC) TMRRFC / Concordia Université
23. Julia Schell (Uxbridge, ON) Guelph Redcoats / Castaway Wanderers