1
{{item.n}}
Liv Apps: 'It’s good timing for me to experience something new'
By Joe Harvey
To say Liv Apps is savouring the opportunity to test herself this year is a gentle way of phrasing things.
This season the playmaker will be splitting her time with Saracens and Canada on the HSBC SVNS circuit. The 26-year-old, who captained her country to an Olympic silver medal in Paris, is taking part in her first Premiership Women’s Rugby season in England weeks after a second-place finish at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
One of seven Canada internationals to call North London home, a list which includes World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year Sophie de Goede, it is the first time that Toronto-born Apps will play professional 15-a-side rugby.
VIDEO
The notion of committing more fully to the 80-minute format of rugby came after success at the Olympics. Shortly after she and her teammates brought silver medals back from Paris, the Canadian sevens programme became decentralised.
This shift in training model encouraged players to take on playing opportunities overseas and, in essence, be happier rugby players when they came back to international camp.
Along with fellow seven-a-side regulars Caroline Crossley, Fancy Bermudez, Asia Hogan-Rochester and Florence Symonds, Apps became an important figure for Kévin Rouet’s team in their hunt for world glory.
Knowing that she had a WXV 1 campaign and Pacific Four Series to look forward to ahead of this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, Apps decided to stay in Canada last season.
Now she is looking forward to a self-branded ‘experiment year’ as she marries her time representing Saracens in PWR and Canada in HSBC SVNS competition when released from her commitments in the English capital.
“When I started to play more 15s for Canada in 2022 and the majority of the team were playing in England and France,” Apps said.
“I never really thought that was possible. I thought that if I wanted to play rugby I’d have to stay in Canada. The past couple of years since I’ve been exposed to that, I’ve been thinking about it but it just hasn’t felt like the right timing. Now it is a great experiment to see how much rugby I can handle.
“I would still be playing PWR and being released for some sevens tournaments throughout the season. Depending on how my body handles that, and if it feels like something I can do for a few years then, I think I would be open to it.
“It’s good timing for me to experience something new and see if I like playing 15s as much as I think I do. It was just a good experiment year and I have had a lot of support from all the coaching staff (in Canada).
“I think I needed a new challenge to see another rugby environment, play with a different team and see how that could help my development.”
‘How did we lose ourselves in that final?’
Apps arrived in North London in the wake of Canada’s Women’s Rugby World Cup final loss to England’s Red Roses. Ranked second in the world the North Americans had stunned from virtually their first minute on the field against Fiji in York and garnered more support with their high-octane style of play.
It was a campaign that saw Rouet’s side beat the Black Ferns for just the second time in their history and ended with a 33-13 loss to England in front of a world record crowd at Allianz Stadium.
View this post on Instagram
Across the tournament Apps made six appearances, all from the bench, and regularly provided the bursts of energy regularly seen on the World Series.
Combined with her big game experience, whether that be at Olympic Games or at crunch time in the shortened format of the game, it made her and Justine Pelletier the perfect double act at scrum-half.
Even six weeks on from that day in West London there is still an element of bewilderment to the defeat.
“It’s crazy how much time has gone by already,” Apps said. “That World Cup experience was really amazing and very historical for the Canadians, and the impact we had on our communities was incredible.
“The game itself, it’s like; how did we lose ourselves in that final game? I think we really did lose ourselves and we couldn’t find a way back to how we wanted to play.
“I feel like we continued to be ourselves throughout the pool matches and into the semi-final against New Zealand. Then we just let it slip in that final game. Which is just sad.”
The saving grace of Women’s Rugby World Cup final defeat can be found across the North Atlantic. Over the course of the tournament support grew for the Canucks back home.
Column inches on the back of newspapers began to grow and the stardom of De Goede and co. developed as local and national news outlets broadcast their stories more and more frequently.
“Seeing how Canadians responded to our World Cup campaign and how much emotion that gave to our group, that was almost the saving grace for us when we came home without the gold medal,” Apps said.
“I feel saved by the amount of support and pride that the nation had for us, and the impact that our journey had. Despite the fact we didn’t get the outcome, that was so much bigger than any gold medal could have been.
View this post on Instagram
“It really put in perspective the purpose of a World Cup and the purpose of wearing a Canadian jersey. It’s been really everything to me. Everything to all of us.
“Thinking about how many kids were actually watching us is incredible. It puts everything into perspective.”
‘The buzz is continuing’
Apps made her debut for Saracens against Harlequins in the second round of the new PWR league season. It was a predictably assured performance from the 26-year-old, who partnered seamlessly with England’s Zoe Harrison at half-back, and helped international teammates Alysha Corrigan and Laetitia Royer dot down.
A try-scorer a weekend later against Bristol Bears, she will come off the bench this week at StoneX Stadium as Leicester Tigers make the journey from the East Midlands.
It is no secret that the North London club desires success. They have not lifted domestic silverware since 2022 and already Alex Austerberry’s side look hungry.
Ready to help Saracens end that cold snap is Apps. PWR is already riding the wave of the Women’s Rugby World Cup as attendances have sky-rocketed. And there is no better place to be for a certain scrum-half.
“It’s the perfect time to be involved in this league,” Apps said. “All this coming after the World Cup, the buzz is continuing on. You just don’t get an opportunity to play with other world class players that you usually compete against on the international stage.
“I’m very excited for this season and proud to be a part of Saracens. It is a very legendary club. I am so happy I chose to come here and that I locked in and made the decision.”