Trailfinders' Julia Schell: 'Top four is definitely what we have our sights on.'

Shania Twain hasn’t called again, but otherwise Julia Schell feels she has reached the point where she can look back with endless pride on Canada’s march to the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 final.

Canada’s run may have ended in defeat to hosts England at a sold-out Allianz Stadium, but their crowd-funded squad captured the imagination of fans across Canada with some soul-stirring displays, most notably against New Zealand in the semi-finals.

Kevin Rouet’s team was praised by politicians in Parliament and garnered numerous new fans, including the Queen of Country Pop, who hails from Windsor, Ontario and who messaged Schell to wish her and her team-mates good luck during the tournament.

“I’m her biggest fan, so that was pretty next level,” said Schell. “What we’ve been able to do for rugby fans back in Canada has been great. The more time passes, you can kind of reflect and acknowledge that regardless of the result, it was an amazing tournament to be a part of, but I do think it’s taken some time to get there.

“Seeing the way it has been portrayed in the media has been nothing short of amazing. We didn’t get to see it, but talking to friends and family from back home, it was all over news outlets. It was a cool reality check that people actually bought in and tuned in.”

The question for Schell, Rouet, Rugby Canada, and the squad is, what now?

Next year Canada will play in the expanded WXV Global Series, and the Pac Four Series, where they face Australia, New Zealand, and USA.

While it is early days, there is potential for the team to kick on. There have been no retirements, they are ranked second in the world and can boast the World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year Sophie de Goede.

Furthermore, Rouet and captain Alex Tessier created a fantastic team spirit. Those based with Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) clubs will meet up when they can throughout the season, with national team camps also likely to feature.

“Every day was so much fun,” Schell said. “You never woke up and dreaded the day. You knew you were gonna have a deep belly laugh at some time. Even the night out after the tournament. We had all of our friends and family at Richmond Rugby Club. Bittersweet as it was, it was a really fun night to finish off together.

“We always make an effort to try and see each other post-game, whether we stay over that night, or just try and get dinner every once in a while. We have camps sometimes for the overseas players and it’s so fun to see them all.

“Finishing like that is enough motivation to keep us going. We’re more motivated than ever. We want to continue to stay at the top in the world and take that top spot.”

For now, Schell’s focus is back on her PWR club side, Trailfinders Women. The 28-year-old joined the west London outfit in 2023, ahead of their debut season.

They finished sixth in 2023-24, and seventh in 2024-25, having won five and lost 11 on both occasions.

Under former Ealing Trailfinders player Barney Maddison, there have been a host of high-profile signings as the team aims for the play-off places. Chief among them is England centre Megan Jones, Black Ferns duo Alana Borland and Georgia Ponsonby, and Scottish trio Rachel Malcolm, Emma Wassell, and Francesca McGhie.

“It’s so exciting,” Schell said. “As the signings were coming out throughout the summer, and while you wanted to focus on the World Cup, it was hard not to look forward, to be excited about what we can put out this season. We’ve grown each season, and I’m looking forward to taking another step.

“Because we’ve all been away for so long, I almost feel new all over again having been gone since March or February. (The club) being new in the league two years ago, we had that grace period, but now we have the experience, and we have the players to do it. Top four is definitely what we have our sights on.”