Sophie de Goede: Hosting WXV can ‘catapult’ Canada into new era
Canada captain Sophie de Goede believes staging the second edition of WXV 1 in British Columbia can help launch the women’s game “into a different stratosphere” in North America.
World Rugby announced on Wednesday that Canada had been chosen as hosts of the top level of WXV 2024 this September and October, with select matches to be played at BC Place in Vancouver.
Rugby Canada previously hosted two rounds of the World Rugby Pacific Four Series (PAC4) in Ottawa last July, drawing a national record attendance for a women’s game of 10,092 to the hosts’ encounter with the Black Ferns at TD Place.
Canada finished that tournament second, a result they subsequently repeated at the inaugural WXV 1 in New Zealand four months later, and the team has consistently outperformed its amateur status.
De Goede also led her country to the Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-finals in 2022, the only non-professional side to reach the last four, where they ran England close before losing the bronze final to France.
And De Goede is hopeful that playing on home soil during WXV 1 2024 will help the team connect with a new generation of rugby fans in Canada, as they did in Ottawa last year.
“It’s massive,” De Goede told RugbyPass about taking WXV to British Columbia. “We hosted PAC4 last year and had our best turnout ever for a women’s rugby game, over 10,000 in TD place in Ottawa.
“That was such a special feeling and there were so many young kids in the crowd, boys and girls, that we had been able to meet with and play with throughout the week in different community events and then showed up to the game to watch us play New Zealand.
“Unfortunately, we lost that game (52-21), so that was frustrating. But afterwards, just seeing the amount of kids that were there, and that I think had really fallen in love with the sport over the period of time that we were in Ottawa, was incredible.
“And it goes back to the ultimate goal, which is the growth of the game in North America. To be able to host an incredibly important tournament like WXV in our home nation and try to really catapult the game into a different stratosphere here in North America, like it is in the rest of the globe, would be the ultimate prize.
“So, hopefully we can set another record-breaking crowd and win the game and give them something more to cheer about in BC place. So, yeah, there’s no other word really than special and I feel incredibly fortunate that we get this opportunity.”
De Goede got a taste of the BC Place atmosphere as she helped Canada to a bronze medal at HSBC SVNS Vancouver last weekend.
“It was incredible,” she added. “I’m from Vancouver Island, just a ferry ride away, so for me personally, there was a ton of friends and family there to watch that go every year regardless. So, it was nice that I could be playing in front of them.
“And then for the whole team, [the crowd] gave us so much energy and we had a couple tight games, especially in the quarters, semis, bronze [final], so it was really good to have their energy behind us.”
It is clear, though, that leading the Test team into the iconic indoor stadium later this year would mean even more to the Saracens number eight.
“In Ottawa that was one of the most emotional anthems and lead-outs that I’ve ever experienced,” De Goede explained.
“Almost equal to the World Cup that I went to, just because of looking into the crowd and seeing so many familiar faces and also just seeing the crowd awash with red.
“So, I can’t even imagine doing that in Vancouver even closer to home for me and again, an important tournament – basically a mini-World Cup in WXV. So, really, I can’t even imagine and hopefully that moment will come, and I’ll just be able to soak it in.”
De Goede was speaking from Los Angeles, where she is set to compete in the fifth leg of HSBC SVNS 2024 with Canada this weekend.
She is currently in the midst of a gruelling few months which, should everything go according to the “rough” plan, will see her juggle SVNS, PAC4 and Premiership Women’s Rugby commitments before becoming an Olympian at Paris 2024.
“My ultimate goal is to grow rugby in Canada, especially women’s rugby and so I want to take as many involvements as I can that will help achieve that goal,” De Goede said.
“That’s why it was a no-brainer. If the opportunity is there and if the teams need me then I want to do both (sevens and 15s).
“The more I get used to bouncing back between the two, I think the easier it should become.
“It’s still definitely a challenge, but it’s about figuring out, ‘OK, what are the three to five things that I need to focus on in the first couple of weeks of being back that will make the biggest difference in fine tuning me’.”
On the prospect of representing Canada at Paris 2024, De Goede added: “It would be a dream come true.
“I was really fortunate to grow up understanding what a World Cup is but most North Americans don’t, and the Olympics is the ultimate pinnacle for us.
“And so, as a kid, I always wanted to be able to go to the Olympics, in all the different sports I played, and that wasn’t really an option with rugby until we got reintroduced in the 2016 Olympics.
“Since then, it’s like, well, that would be a huge goal and dream to achieve. So, you know, it would be an honour but there’s a long way to go before that decision is made and I’m just trying to take it day by day.”
Comments on RugbyPass
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1 Go to commentsThe Melbourne Rebels lineout is a complete disaster so not surprisingly a kiwi coach of the Wallabies hires the worst lineout coach in the country and a foreigner to boot. No surprises whatsoever here…….
3 Go to commentsThank your for wasting 2 minutes of my life Daniel. There is a useful message in there somewhere but your delivery sucks.
7 Go to commentsBen Smith, you are cry baby
214 Go to commentsSux that homophobia is still a thing though. I wonder how many players who could have become legends never kept playing rugby because they felt unwelcome.
7 Go to commentsCrazy he’s only 28, feel like he’s been around forever - don’t mind the move, safe pair of hands and creates depth in a thin position for ABs. Hopefully aides Kemara’s growth also without thrusting too much responsibility on him
1 Go to commentsMen should show strength and be mean, but they should be able to show emotion to those close yo them in certain times, birth of your child, death of family, proud moment. This article is stupid
7 Go to commentsWhat a weak article…absolute drivel and clickbait, well done. Will stick to rugby365 thanks
7 Go to commentsHonest, discipline, humility… Priceless.
2 Go to commentsSo many excuses. No mention of the SA number 2 being taken out illegally in the 2nd minute. That act of foul play had a massive impact on the SA game. Face it, NZ play pretty dirty very regularly, and it’s only since 2016 they’ve been held to higher officiating standards via stricter officiating and TMO reviews. They deserved to have a man down. Sorry. Fix the yellow and red cards and NZ will win more RWCs. Plus, there WAS a knock on invalidating the one try, so it was NOT a try. Period. Here’s a Kleenex…
214 Go to commentsOverheard conversation between NZ and SA rugby fans everywhere: We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! We’re the greatest! No we’re the greatest! Ireland are arrogant! True but they beat you! We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! Etc. etc, etc.
33 Go to commentsTypical crap Aussie weather
11 Go to comments“If they’d have beaten England, I still feel we would have been talking ‘is this the best team ever,’ ‘is this the best team that’s ever played in the Six Nations'” he said. “I still think they’re not quite that good. I actually don’t think they’re that good.” So Trimble is saying he doesn’t think this is the best 6N team of all time. He is silent on if it is the best Irish team of all time. Can’t disagree with him. Just another misrepresentative clickbait headline from the guys at RP.
33 Go to commentsWow, do we really still have to listen to all the excuses and “unfairness” of it all. Even blaming the bounce of an egg shaped ball for the loss. But the article is about context, so what about the Springboks having to play the other 5 teams in the top 6 and still beating a comparatively rested AB team on a very empty tank.
214 Go to comments“Teams would generally have three coaches below their head honcho; attack coach, defence coach, forwards coach” do they? I’m not sure what the NZ set up is tbh, but the other 4 sides top 5 sides all have very different structures to the one outlined in the article! As well as attack, defence, and forwards coaches, SA, Ireland, and France also have specialist scrum coaches. England have a specialist scrum coach too, but arguably don’t have a forwards coach, with that role taken on by Borthwick. SA also have a backs coach in addition to defence and attack, and Ireland and England have fitness coaches, with England also having two skills coaches.
3 Go to commentsWorst article I've read in a while. Trying to disguise a backhand slap as a compliment. The whole article is a bit weird and negative. I think South African men are emotional in general… think Clad le Clos’s father 2012 London Olympics.
7 Go to commentsIreland are going to win the world cup.
33 Go to commentsIt was the strangest result ever. Etzebeth should've been yellow card for his cynical retiring move and a penalty try. Birth second half tries by the Allblacks were fantastic and the TMO operating outside the law to rule out the first try was egregious. Yes, the boks got the win but it was through some bizarre officiating that allowed them to sneak home against 14 men that dominated them. The quieter Bok supporters know and acknowledge the Allblacks were the better and dominant side. Justifying the win because they beat a pre world cup Allblacks selection is silly.
214 Go to commentsA very English thing to do hey Courtney, blerrie kant
4 Go to commentsIt sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
33 Go to comments