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‘I’ve never fallen so hard’ – How Canada’s Julia Schell reacted to Shania Twain message
By Joe Harvey
Julia Schell did not know how to respond when she found out that Shania Twain had sent a message of support to the Canada women’s national team.
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On Tuesday the 60-year-old country-pop juggernaut commented “I’ll be cheering for you all on Friday!! Let’s go girls!” on Instagram, to which Canada responded “welcome to the team” ahead of their 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-final with New Zealand.
In the wake of the interaction Schell wrote that she was “not okay” after seeing the icon’s message.
But after she was named in Kévin Rouet’s starting side to take on New Zealand this Friday night, the 29-year-old revealed that was only part of the story.
“I freaked out, obviously,” Schell said. “Me and another teammate, who is not on tour with us right now, are very big Shania Twain fans.
“After training I saw a message from my friend saying to go and check Instagram. I literally sprinted from the bus into the changing rooms, and I’ve never fallen so hard.
“I was wearing these silly little slippers, and I absolutely ate the floor. That probably sums up how I was feeling about it.”
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For their semi-final with the Black Ferns, Rouet has named an unchanged starting side and Schell will start in her fifth match of the tournament.
A rock at full-back, Schell and her teammates have their sights fully set on reaching the World Cup final at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday 27 September.
It was only two years ago that the Canadians registered a first-ever win against their southern hemisphere opponents in the Pacific Four Series. Earlier this year they drew 27-all.
Allan Bunting’s New Zealand are without injured flanker Jorja Miller for the contest at Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium.
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Miller was an instrumental performer for the Ferns a week ago in Exeter as they came back from being held 10-10 by the Springbok Women at half-time to ultimately win the contest 46-17.
Friday night will be another test of Canada’s mettle. In the past two years the side have established themselves as capable of winning this year’s World Cup.
Throughout their Pool B outings there was a sense more was to come from the side and against Australia there was nothing but brilliance on display as the North Americans sent the Wallaroos home with a 46-5 scoreline hanging over their heads.
Such performances have turned murmurs of the possibility of Canada as World Cup contenders into full voice. Something that cannot be avoided by Schell and her teammates in camp.
“It’s something we’ve chatted about throughout the tournament,” Schell said.
“We’ve been going on a week-to-week basis and focusing on ourselves. We know it’s a big game and it’s the world champions, and we know what we need to do to beat them.”
