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Canada train in headphones to replicate World Cup final atmosphere
By Martyn Thomas reporting from London
Canada trained in headphones blaring crowd noise as they attempted to mimic the experience of playing at a sold-out Allianz Stadium, Twickenham this Saturday.
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Head coach Kevin Rouet is known for thinking outside of the box and on Monday provided his players with an extra piece of equipment as they began their preparation for the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 final against hosts England.
Rouet explained the move was designed to give the players exposure to working under pressure when they cannot hear each other.
The vast majority of the 80,000-plus fans set to fill Twickenham on Saturday are expected to be there to support Canada’s opponents, the Red Roses, in their bid to win their home tournament.
“That was in our slow tempo practice, just to get used to the noise and not being able to hear each other because we know that would be a factor,” Rouet said.
“So just to also change the synergy of the practice and have more fun and release the pressure. So, it’s just an idea. Did it work or not, we will never know.”
Winger Asia Hogan-Rochester, who played in front of 66,000 fans as Canada won sevens silver at the Paris 2024 Olympics, had earlier lifted the lid on the training drill when discussing the prospect of running out in front of even more fans on Saturday.
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The crowds that flocked to the Stade de France to watch the sevens last year are the current record for a women’s event. But that figure will be smashed in south-west London.
“To be honest, I feel after a certain amount of thousand, it’s all just noise and you can’t hear each other either way,” Hogan-Rochester said.
“There’s also that home crowd element though as well. So, we did a really cool training exercise of just putting headphones on so that we couldn’t hear each other and just really focusing on communication.
“We’re a team that reads each other’s minds when we play. So, I’m honestly just really excited for it.”
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Karen Paquin is one of three survivors from the other Canada team to play in a World Cup final, the 21-9 defeat to England in 2014, who are likely to feature again on Saturday.
Paquin started that showpiece match 11 years ago, while Olivia DeMerchant and Tyson Beukeboom were named on the bench.
The flanker knows how it feels to face an intimidating crowd, and says the atmosphere generated in the 2014 semi-final against hosts France at Stade Jean Bouin remains the most heated she has experienced.
“We’re preparing for the atmosphere to make sure that we can hear each other, we can make the call, we can stay calm and we can take the energy but not be overwhelmed by it,” Paquin said.
“I think for us it’s a little prep in terms of what’s going to be there. I’ve played in games where the crowd was pretty hostile, and I expect that to happen this weekend. I don’t think it’s going be 82,000 Canadians in the stands!
“That’s just gonna be a huge atmosphere and I think through the whole World Cup it’s been awesome to have the crowds building and creating that atmosphere and people have been cheering for rugby ultimately.
“I do expect the home crowd to be a bit more geared towards England but that’s going to be alright.”
