Why combining Canadian Women 15s and 7s could reap rewards
A new spirit of collaboration is sweeping through Rugby Canada with the hope it will net long term rewards.
Over the past year, there’s been a gradual coming together of the women’s 15s and sevens programmes, with players and coaches alike splitting their time between the two sides.
With both teams heading towards major pinnacle events over the next two years, it will make for a logistically challenging time and while conceding it’s not perfect, 15s coach Kevin Rouet says it’s a way for them to build depth across their teams and ensure players are getting valuable match time.
Having been appointed to the role just eight months before last year’s World Cup, Rouet and his sevens counterpart Jack Hanratty, confirmed in his post a few months prior, came to a quick realization of what needed to happen for Canada to be more successful.
“We don’t have a depth of athletes like England, France, and New Zealand that maybe have an infinite pool of players. This is not our case, so if we are not willing to share athletes between the programs, we won’t be successful.”
Post the 2021 World Cup (played in 2022), Madison Grant and Alysha Corrigan were the first two to make the switch to the shortened format, joined by 15s captain Sophie de Goede and fullback Sabrina Poulin later in the season.
Standout halfback Justine Pelletier was included in the recent sevens squad which qualified for the Paris Olympics. On the flip side Fancy Bermudez, Florence Symonds, and Oliva Apps have made their fifteens debuts this year, while sevens flyer Krissy Scurfield has been named in the squad for the upcoming two-test series against England.
Also included to play England is 2014 World Rugby Women’s Player of the year Magali Harvey, returning to the Canada set up for the first time since 2018.
Rouet credits new Rugby Canada CEO Nathan Bombrys for backing their plan to get off the ground.
“It isn’t an easy thing for Jack and I to try and implement and would have been impossible if we didn’t have someone above us who was so willing. I can see a huge difference in the past six months [since Bombrys’ arrival] …there is more emphasis on us and more willingness to help us be successful three years out from a World Cup. Previously people have only cared a year out and you can’t win a World Cup if you think like that, having to catch up every time.”
To say the endeavor isn’t an easy one may be a slight understatement. In a country as vast as Canada, with some players centralized in Langford, others signed to European clubs and with an increasingly jammed rugby calendar, it’s a major undertaking.
There’s also the not insignificant factor that players like Scurfield and Symonds have are completely new to the 15s game.
“Some of them never played 15s in their lives before they trained with the national team because they were in the sevens environment from a very young age. You can see the potential they have, but we also don’t have a high-quality enough league for them to play in to get more playing experience” says Rouet.
While it means there will be mistakes made in the heat of the test arena, Rouet says what they lack in rugby experience they make up for in being very smart, hardworking athletes who can see the growth of the game and want to be part of it.
“They watch a lot of games to try to understand their roles and they’re willing to learn by watching, by talking. It was very challenging for someone like Flo who I put on the wing against New Zealand in what was her first game of fifteens, and while she made some mistakes, she’s an amazing rugby player so it’s a very easy fix sometimes.”
Clear communication and plenty of advanced planning are critical to the success of the collaborative approach. In conjunction with Bombrys and new high-performance director Stephen Aboud, who had great success with Italy, Rouet and Hanratty have a clear plan for the busy year ahead.
“For now, we’ve made the decision that the tests against England and WXV are the priority, and after that, from January, the focus will be Sevens and the Olympics,” Rouet says. “So next year for me in Pacific Four I won’t get any sevens players come to fifteens, but at least we’ve already invested in them before and we think it’s the best way if we want to have the best players on both sides.”
Rouet hopes that whenever the time comes for him and Hanratty to move on they’ve set a foundation for the future that could become Rugby Canada’s long-term advantage over other teams. He knows the reality is that leagues in England and France will increasingly cap the number of foreign players in each squad, so the time may come when they have to bring everybody home and create their own competition, and talent spot great athletes beyond the university system.
In the near future though, WXV is a game changer. With two warm-up tests against England this month prior to the competition in New Zealand starting in mid-October, it means Canada will have played an unprecedented eight internationals by the end of the year. While he describes this year’s WXV as his “last dance” with the full squad until after the Paris Olympics, Rouet hopes the foundation will be laid for success in 2025.
“We want to try to create a blueprint, a base and chemistry before they go away. There will be new players coming into this environment, so it’s going to be a balance and we will have to be very efficient, but keeping the same core group for a couple of months means we aren’t redoing things and we’re moving forward.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Mark Telea is a lot of things, but a defensive juggernaut has never been one of them. There will be far bigger tests in that regard for the youngster.
9 Go to commentsLove and respect to Fiji but not a chance outside of 7s
3 Go to commentsGood summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
1 Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
1 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
1 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
5 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
5 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
9 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments