'I didn't want to do another cycle the same way': Kévin Rouet

It was almost an open secret that Kévin Rouet had joined Saracens for the 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season.

Fresh from guiding Canada to a runners-up finish at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup the Frenchman could be seen on the sidelines as the North London club began their domestic campaign head to toe in Saracens garb.

As the weeks went by there was no official confirmation that the World Rugby Coach of the Year nominee had joined the club alongside his commitments with Rugby Canada. Until the eve of Round 7 when Rouet was announced as attack coach, alongside the appointment of assistant coaches Neil Harris and Harry Wilson.

After several weeks of ironing out exactly what his commitments were to both Canada and Saracens, there was plenty of relief in the announcement.

So much so that in the wake of Saracens’ 24-14 win against Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park the following weekend, he latched onto the end of a group photo with the nine Canadians that took part in the contest and wrote ‘no need to hide anymore’.

His time with the North Londoners can only be categorised as a success so far. Aside from opening day defeat to Gloucester Hartpury the team have been faultless and have picked up bonus points in all six of their wins.

The side sit at the top of the PWR table and will remain there across the winter break that concludes in late January.

There was never really a question of if Rouet was going to blend in well at StoneX Stadium. He had developed a strong working relationship with Saracens’ Director of Women’s Rugby, Alex Austerberry, when the Englishman joined Canada’s coaching staff for the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Now, just shy of three months in the role, the 39-year-old’s fingerprints can be seen all over the side. Saracens have scored 50 tries in eight games, more than any other side, and seen the likes of Olivia Apps thrive in a versatile backline teeming with talent.

It has also provided the opportunity for Rouet to continue hands-on coaching, rather than living out of a suitcase for several weeks at a time to visit PWR and Élite 1 clubs while outside of international windows.

“It’s fun,” Rouet told RugbyPass. “It’s a lot of international rugby players. We have a lot of Canada, England, Welsh and Scottish (internationals), so it is a real mix of cultures.

“I know English rugby a lot. I know French rugby a lot. It’s good for me because I arrived with another (way of) thinking, so even for the England players they loved it at some points – I think they loved it! It makes them think differently and talk differently.

“I know at the beginning with Marlie (Packer), Rosie (Galligan), even Poppy (Cleall), it was like trying to understand each other and speak the same language. I think now everyone is on board with trying new stuff. It’s still a learning process. But I think it’s all good.

“I have moved from being a head coach to an assistant coach. As a head coach you impose your vision, as an assistant coach you have to convince people. That’s the big difference for me.

“I enjoy that. I need to convince coaches. We need to have those conversations about the pros and cons of every situation. It’s a fun part of the job. Like Marlie and Zoe (Harrison), the captains of Sarries, they are two new players that I love to work with on a daily basis.

“They are very open. A little bit of stress of me coming in, for sure, but I think they see I’m fully committed to Saracens. We don’t talk about Canada or England. We talk about how to improve the Saracens environment.”

A wry smile appears on the face of Rouet when the topic of the Women’s Rugby World Cup comes up. It has now been three months since his side were beaten 33-13 in front of a world record crowd of 81,885 at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, by England’s Red Roses.

Understandably there are mixed emotions. He grins when recalling how the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, shook his hand and told the Frenchman that he should be Coach of the Year (which was ultimately won by Red Roses boss John Mitchell) at full-time of the final, how the quarter-final win over the Wallaroos was more satisfying than the semi-final victory against the Black Ferns or how much energy a sold out Allianz Stadium gave him and his players in late September.

A stoniness appears when he recalls specific plays, including a knock-on from within five metres of the England whitewash and feeling momentum slip from the North Americans’ grasp despite a strong start. Those ‘what if?’ moments. Although Sophie de Goede‘s recognition as World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year does offer a little comfort.

Immediately after defeat in West London, Rouet was bullish. He asked that the nation of Canada not forget his team and that the groundswell of support that they had received from home continue through the next four years, all the way to the 2029 tournament in Australia. A tournament which he wants to leave with a winners medal.

He is under no illusion that he could have walked into any job he wanted after Canada’s run to the final two of the Women’s Rugby World Cup. There were certainly the job openings.

 

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But, in truth, the 39-year-old says the decision to stay with Rugby Canada for another four years and shape his role to include work in PWR was ‘quite quick’.

“I love challenges in life, that’s what I have done my whole life,” Rouet said. “I thought (post Women’s Rugby World Cup) that I needed to do another cycle with Canada. That was my first thought. But I didn’t want to do another cycle in the same way.

“The Rugby Canada head coach is a job that is so different than any other head coach (role). Being head coach of Canada, you are trying to build a league, watch 30 different games a week because you have players in France, England and Canada, and trying to build relationships in a country the size of Europe. All of that takes so much energy and it is not always fun.

“I said to Rugby Canada that I needed more fun. I can still do my job; I do meetings at night – I do meetings at 11pm here (in the United Kingdom). I needed to have this Monday, Tuesday, going in to practice and coach a team to see the evolution. I couldn’t do that in Canada, so England was a good set-up for me.”

The desire to do things differently in another Women’s Rugby World Cup cycle is exactly why the announcement of Rouet’s arrival in North London took some time.

Already he knows his calendar for 2026. It includes a block in January coaching rugby sevens, while much of April and May will see him lead Canada at the Pacific Four Series.

Every detail has been fine-tuned to ensure that both Canada and Saracens get the very most out of Rouet. And so that he can get the best out of himself too with so many different responsibilities.

Because we all know him as Canada’s head coach, but  he also acts as the union’s Director of Women’s Rugby and oversees the sevens programme along with development of the women’s 15-a-side game in the country.

His tenure in that role has been fruitful. It has seen the adoption of the ‘One Squad’ approach, which has seen plenty of players flit between rugby sevens and the full format of the game with relative ease.

He also hopes to continue the growth of a women’s club rugby competition to run between January and April to allow players the opportunity to pursue Test match honours at home.

Those things fall alongside a list of long-term projects which he hopes to address in the near future. Including finding a way to allow more of his squad to focus more fully on rugby and not have to work alongside their endeavours in elite sport.

It is a plate spinning act of trans-Atlantic proportions. But one that Rouet is grasping hold of with both hands. Just as he has done for the entirety of his coaching career to date.