Remarkable Canada 'relish in the disregard the game often pays them'
England or New Zealand for the title? Or maybe even France?
The conversation dominating the ongoing women’s World Cup has largely been focused on those three teams, with their players hogging much of the limelight and profile as the competition reaches its conclusion.
There is of course one other team in the mix, but outside of the Auckland bubble, many would be hard pressed to pick Canada out of a line-up as title contenders.
Having topped their pool with three wins and three bonus points, and efficiently dispatched the USA last weekend, it’s somewhat remarkable that Canada continues to fly under the radar, particularly when to know anything about Canadian women’s rugby is to know that their success is one of the most remarkable stories in the game.
Quick research highlights that the barriers Canada have to overcome to even get on the field are manifold and complex.
Take the fact that the country is massive (it’s quicker to get from London to the east of Canada than it is to travel east to west internally), add in a diverse climate which covers large parts of the country in snow for most of the year and throw in the need to navigate several time zones and a bilingual population and you’ve hardly got the recipe for success for a sport which is as chronically underfunded as Canadian rugby is.
But its women’s team has been a success.
World Cup finalists in 2014, they have rated amongst the world’s leading teams for two decades, and though no one fancies them to beat England this weekend, the fact that it is also quite possible, speaks to the tenacity of a team who relish in the disregard the game often pays them.
Star fullback Elissa Alarie, one of three players left at the World Cup who has played every minute of every game, believes all of it gives the team strength.
“I do think dealing with all of those challenges translates to performance and it does unite us. When you have to fight on and off the field it just brings you together. This has been part of our culture for a long time and we are not the first team to go through it. Our alumni has fought as well in the past and we have them to thank for getting rid of the pay to play model here for example and for progressing lots of other vital areas for us. We’re trying to do the same for the next generation.”
Alarie is referring to a situation where Canadian players for so long had to pay to represent their country.
Former captain Leslie Cripps, who played in three World Cups, recalls well how difficult the model was.
“It was really tough. You were always having to firstly negotiate to get off work and then find the money to play. We had to do a lot of fundraising ourselves. One way we did this was through posing for what was a tasteful but still semi-naked calendar and then we had to sell them.
“It was awful. I hated it. We used to be sent the calendars to sell, and I was in England then and I used to just send the money back myself and keep them all. I was an adult, trying to sell semi-naked calendars of my team to my co-workers. It was just ridiculous.”
There was often sympathy levelled at Rugby Canada, who have scant finance to invest in their women’s programme, but Cripps recalls some appalling inequities where the men’s team – largely unsuccessful by comparison, were held in far higher esteem.
“I remember being at a Nations Cup in Vancouver once and the men and the women were staying in the same hotel. The women had to pay $500 to play in the tournament and the men were being paid $500 to play in it. It was the same tournament, in Canada at the same hotel. We actually had to move out at one point to stay somewhere cheaper. We were joking around asking if we could just give our money directly to the men. Things have obviously improved a lot but that was tough.”
In the lead up to the World Cup in New Zealand, the Canadian players determined that they would find a way to spend more time together, despite not having much money to do so.
Alarie picks up the story.
“Our coach put on the board how many days teams like France, England and New Zealand would be spending together before the World Cup and we were miles behind.
“We brainstormed and we came up with a plan to fundraise and be together. We were five in an apartment, finding rooms here and there and we managed to extend loads of our existing plans. When we had the Italy game in Victoria we said OK how long before this game can we realistically show up. Most people took a leave of absence to do things like this, and it’s been a huge personal sacrifice, but the benefits have been enormous.”
Francois Ratier, who coached Canada to the World Cup final in 2014, believes that the challenges the team has historically faced has had some upside.
“We have always had to fight for everything and with that comes huge sacrifices for everyone involved. The upside of this is that of course it builds resilience in the team and among the coaches and gives everyone a real togetherness, but there is obviously a downside too. It can be frustratingly difficult for example to plan in between major events and that lack of control can be exhausting.”
To England this weekend, and Canada are facing a remarkably similar opponent.
Both teams have impeccable set piece credentials, and both have ruthlessly used their driving maul to score tries.
Alarie thinks though that they can surprise England.
“We know England very well and we do have similarities, but I am not sure that they know us well yet. We have evolved a lot in the past year. If we can bring everything together, we have an underdog mentality that is a big asset to us.”
As for going under the radar, she adds that that suits the team well.
“Not being talked about has been fuel on the fire. Even before the World Cup started, you hear the conversations about the teams and it’s rarely about us. Yet here we are trucking away and at a World Cup semi-final. We feel we’ve had a secret power in our team, and we’re now getting a chance to express it and show the world.”
Whatever happens this weekend, the game in Canada is at a turning point. With more and more rivals turning professional, and with strong club leagues being established, Canada is in danger of being left behind. So, what next?
“The girls deserve so much.” Cripps adds.
“The best-case scenario is that there would be parity between the men and women and that in Canada games would be easy to find and get to. The game there needs to be marketed better – I want to see us celebrating success and celebrating the profile of these amazing athletes. There are other issues like properly paying our coaches too – there’s a lot to do.
Ratier agrees that progress must be made.
“Whatever happens this weekend I hope we can see a strong focus and strategy to support the country’s top players as well as building our club game. We need it.”
Can Canada beat England this weekend?
“Yes,” Cripps replies without hesitation.
Ratier holds back initially and says his team needs to do “something special” to win it, before adding- Canada will hope prophetically.
“We’ve not had an upset at this World Cup yet, so perhaps it’s time.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments