YORKTON - Canada’s national team is headed to the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup taking place in England Aug. 22 -to Sept. 27.
Regina’s Gabrielle Senft says the team is looking squarely at capturing the gold medal.
The confidence to win it all comes in part from team experience, and in part from preparation.
In terms of preparation the Canadian team has played and performed well through a series of warm-up games in recent months including the Pacific Four Series.
“We’ve has a good stretch going into the World Championships,” said Senft, but then tempering that just a little. “We’re not taking that for granted. There’s still work to be done.”
But, Senft also acknowledged the program leading up to worlds has fine-tuned things for the team.
“(It’s) the most prepared a Canadian women’s 15 team has ever been,” she said.
When it comes to experience Senft noted the Canadian team averages some 26 caps (games on team) per player, which pretty succinctly shows how much experience the team can draw upon.
It’s also a sort of motivation for the team.
While a number of players were on the team in 2022 when Canada played for the bronze medal losing 36-0 to France, it is unlikely many will be back in four years time for another shot at a world title, so the time is now.
“We’ve definitely talked about that in the dressing room,” said Senft, adding the team feels this is their year.
Senft said while the team will obviously enjoy the overall experience in England, there is also a more palatable focus on a job to be done. She said the team is highly professional in its approach with its eyes firmly set on the gold medal this time around.
Senft said the team is putting in the hard work, training and strategy at a higher level “more than I’ve ever seen before.”
Of course it will come down to how the team performs in England.
Senft said while the team is confident they know other teams, host England and New Zealand among them are top of the list -- New Zealand enters the tournament as defending champions following their victory against England in the 2021 final -- it will ultimately come down to “how you’re going to perform against them.”
That said those games only come if the team advances from pool play. Canada is in a pool with Scotland, Wales and Fiji. Canada’s World Cup kicks-off Aug. 23 against Fiji.
The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup will be the tenth edition of the Women’s Rugby World Cup. It will be the second women’s Rugby Union World Cup to be hosted in England, after the 2010 edition. It will be the first tournament to be rebranded as the Women’s Rugby World Cup since 2021, a change that was announced in October 2023.
The tournament has been expanded to 16 teams, from the previous 12.
