Laetitia Royer: Coming into 2026 it has felt like a whole new beginning

I don’t like the word perfect. You never want to aim for perfection. But Sunday’s 81-0 win against Leicester Tigers was excellent to see.

So much work had gone into that game. It was almost like another preseason. We had a team bonding event the Saturday before and some really intense practices, so it was lovely to have that moment and to see those connections being created on the field again.

Before the game, in the speech, we wanted to keep ourselves at a high standard. To maintain them. The score reflected that. We didn’t lower our quality. Not for one second.

Obviously, I didn’t play in Leicester. I am still probably two weeks away from getting back on the pitch. I went up to get some game replacement cardio and back into the rhythm of having some intensity at the weekend. Next week I’ll, hopefully, do the full warm-up and then back into full contact the week after that.

It would be a lie to say it has been a great start to my Saracens career. Coming into 2026 it has felt like a whole new beginning because I haven’t really had my start. I have played one full match. In my second game my ankle got split open by an opponent’s cleats when they landed on me at a lineout. In my third game my shoulder got dislocated.

What has made it more frustrating is the feeling of déjà vu. At the end of November against Trailfinders, Kate Zackary cleared me out and dislocated my shoulder. It was really unfortunate.

I had a real search for identity after the World Cup – I have called it the World Cup blues. Because of the AC joint injury I did not have the role that I wanted or that I was meant to have at the World Cup. It took a really long time to recover from that.

That was really a quest of identity and research into my core, my principles, my standards. The whole reason I play rugby is because I enjoy expressing myself and inspiring people. That person was not seen in my little minutes at the World Cup.

I was craving to be back and in my first game for Saracens (a 47-10 win over Harlequins) I think I got some of that feeling back. It was just a shame that it only lasted for November.

It would be a lie to say I haven’t missed the matchday buzz. Coming off the Women’s Rugby World Cup there has been this excitement around PWR. Home or away, people just want to see us and be around us. Often it is the younger generation and that just gives me a good feeling.

I’ve been so grateful to have so many of my Canadian teammates around me throughout all of this. I live with most of them too. They are sort of like a comfort blanket.

When I moved to France, the hardest part for me was having no Canadian connections whatsoever. I found myself lonely quite often. It was really hard.

The fact that I have all these Canadians around me has made it easy. Even then I want to hang out with my other teammates. One of the reasons I wanted to come here was to add some value to the culture. I have realised that is something I am good at more recently, funnily because of the role that I found myself with at the World Cup.

I was told by my teammates that I had this impact on others. It started with the impact I had on the field but trickled off field. I want to make that same sort of impression here but haven’t had enough time to let my performances do that. I am pretty sure that will come naturally.

This time has allowed me to observe and see all the dynamics in the team. We have so many strong characters, English players with strong voices – the dynamic between them and the coaches is very different from what I am used to.

 

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I didn’t expect to get so close to the England players. Zoe Harrison is hanging out with us. I wouldn’t have believed that a few months ago. She must like our vibe or something. It has been quite intriguing to build relations with them, to see our differences and how they create bonds with others – but to also see how they care about the club and their teammates overall.

Marlie Packer and Rosie Galligan are both much nicer off the pitch. Up to now I had only known them as competitors within 80 minutes of a game. Maybe I was wrong to be surprised.

Then there are the ones I just love bugging. It is funny because sometimes they carry themselves with this assurance. They like things done a certain way, which is rare for us to see in the Canada side. We just have this attitude of getting the job done. No matter what. For the most part, we are just head down, getting the work done, no really big personalities or huge drama.

I hope that will be one of the benefits of this big core of Canadians being here. We have this positivity and I think we’re slowly planting seeds into the culture – not just at Sarries but all over PWR – that we have this professional attitude. Which a lot of us had before we were actually professional.

I have really come into this environment with an empty cup. I’ve been practicing observing without a preconceived judgement. It has really helped me see what makes everyone work and let me dig into people’s deeper values. You understand that and you can infect them with your positivity, attitude and effort.

There has been a lot of change at Saracens. The biggest one is the shift in structure with Kev (Rouet, Canada’s head coach) coming in as attack coach.

It was quite funny actually, because he called me and asked if I was coming to PWR last year. I said yes, then he said Saracens is a good fit. Then he told me he was going to be coaching, I asked which team and he said he couldn’t tell me.

When it turned out to be Saracens, I was quite happy. The style of play he has implemented with Canada is similar to what we want to see at Sarries.

We are integrating that with their existing structures and giving us the option of using both depending on the situation. It suits my style of play. I find it very freeing.

He has asked the Canada players to show the Saracens players that it works. That you can just be a rugby player. You can be two faces of a coin at the same time.

It has been really interesting to see. He has taken a lot of the team’s leaders into meetings to show them how it works. And it is working slowly. Of course it is, we were top at Christmas.

The house has felt empty these past couple of weeks. With Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Gabby Senft all away with the Sevens team in Singapore and Perth, there hasn’t been that buzz at the “Canadian Manor”. But they made it back on Monday night, which was my birthday, and we all de-stressed doing crafts.

Because of them coming back, it now really feels like getting back on the field is a lot closer. All this time rehabbing means that I’m back in my primetime shape. I feel fresh. Just a couple more weeks to go.