2024 Rugby Canada WXV 1 Preview: Momentum Is High Heading Into BC

PREVIEW – The 2024 Rugby Canada WXV 1 will kick off on September 29 against France as they look to continue their rise in the international women’s rugby union competitions. With two recent wins within the past 365 days against the big three with both New Zealand and France, Canada will feel like they have all the opportunity in the world to make a mark at home in the 2024 WXV1 competition. The ranking of the four WXV1 teams seen below was provided by World Rugby .

Rugby Canada WXV 1 Competition Preview: Canada Looks to Make 2024 An Unforgettable Year

France Rugby (Ranked Fourth in the World)

The first team that Canada will face is France. These teams have met each other twice in the last two years. The first one was a thumping win 36-0 win for France against Canada in the 2021 Rugby World Cup at Eden Park, New Zealand. However, Canada replied back with an unforgettable win at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand last year in the inaugural WXV1 competition. In the last four games between these two national teams, Canada holds the advantage with a 3-0-1 record, which also included a memorable semi-final win in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

The two players that will be highlighted were the two leading point-leaders of the team in the 2024 Women's Six Nations Championship competition. These players were Marine Ménager (she also has a sister on the team named Romane Ménager), and Lina Queyroi, Queyroi had the third-most tries of any player in the tournament and Ménager had the second-most points scored for her team after Queyroi for the French national team.

Queyroi will be a key player for Canada to defend. She is also the kicker for France Rugby and will be a tough player to deal with offensively. As for Marine Ménager, she played a big role in that 2021 Rugby World Cup win over Canada as she scored two tries in that game. Both Menager’s have even helped their professional club team, Montpellier Herault, got to the quarterfinal stage of the E?lite 1 Fe?minine championship play-offs.

Before the game against England in the WXV 1 competition, in which they lost 42-21, this is what Marine Ménager said about the French national team (Source: Jeremy Inson of Six Nations Rugby):

“We are a young team with many talented and hard-working girls with a great desire to progress and grow together,” Ménager told us. “The more the tournaments progress, the more we enjoyed playing together. I think this is a good sign for the future years.

It is important to note that France also has a professional women’s rugby union league with the E?lite 1 Fe?minine competition. France qualified for the WXV 1 competition by finishing second in the 2024 WXV 1 competition winning four of their five games.

The French have played six games this year, with the only two losses being against England, including the recent 38-19 loss on September 7, 2024.

Ireland Rugby (Ranked Seventh in the World)

Ireland’s Six Nations campaign resulted in a 2-0-3 record for the national team. However, that was still good enough to qualify for their first-ever WXV 1 competition. One key part of that was earning bonus points in a losing effort against Italy Rugby and also earning a bonus point in a 36-5 win over Wales Rugby.

The Ireland national team had to come back from behind against Scotland to win 15-12 in Belfast, Northern Ireland at Ravenhill Stadium. A penalty committed against Higgins of Ireland in the 73’ minute allowed Dannah O'Brien to convert the penalty and the game-winning points for the Irish team. O’Brien was also critical for the Irish throughout the whole Six Nations competition, finishing fourth of all players in the competition. This accomplishment by Ireland shows the progress the national team has made, with the five areas to improve the game outlined by the IRFU, including the “grassroots game, creating winning teams, leadership and governance, investment and revenue as well as a change in visibility and engagement.”

In the same BBC Sport article, Ireland Under-20s head coach Niamh Briggs, said about this move:

"I thought it was hugely positive to see around that strategy plan that lots of things were around just rugby and performance, and getting the best out of each other as opposed to a very much a male and female game. I think that was really important.”

The last time the Irish defeated Canada was on April 29, 2006. It was a 15-8 victory in a friendly. However, to be fair, the team has only met each other three times in total, which also included a 48-7 win in 2016 and a 57-0 win in the 2002 Women’s Rugby World Cup. One of Ireland’s biggest strengths seems to be their ability to score tries, which played a role in them qualifying for the WXV 1 tournament despite having a worse points differential when being compared to Scotland.

Ireland has also played a friendly on September 14, 2024, where they won 36-10 at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

England Rugby (Ranked First in the World)

A team Canada had trouble facing has been England. These two teams have met each other a total of 36 times. In those matches, Canada has a 3-1-32 record against England. All of Canada’s results came in a neutral venue, however, England has won every single game at home and also all the ten games played in Canada.

There is a reason why England is the defending WXV 1 champions. They have not lost a single game since the 2021 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand. This includes recent friendlies this month against teams such as France and the second-ranked team, New Zealand. A big reason for this was the creation of the Premiership Women's Rugby competition, which is a professional women’s rugby union league in England. Marlie Packer and Emily Scarratt are just a few of the many names England has in their squad.

Abby Dow though is another player to watch. She impressed in the win against New Zealand earlier this month, and will look for nothing but dominance in this year’s WXV 1 competition as a focus has been on the defence (Source: Harry Latham-Coyle of Independent UK):

“We’ve been trying to push our defence this preseason,” Dow revealed. “Mitch [John Mitchell] has this thing: ‘Take your handbrake off’.

Of the 15 best players voted in the 2024 Women's Six Nations Championship competition, nine of them are from England. This includes the two leading points leaders in the 2024 Six Nations Championship competition with Ellie Kildunne and Holly Aitchison. They will be a team Canada will need to play at their very best if they want to win in Vancouver.

Rugby Canada (Ranked Third in The World)

The Canadian women’s national rugby union team is coming off a big high of winning a 22-19 nail-biter against the Black Ferns (New Zealand) at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. This is probably even more famous than the two wins they had against France in the 2015 Rugby Women’s World Cup and the inaugural WXV 1 competition. This is what their captain, Sophie de Goede, said about the result (Source: The Canadian Press):

"I feel like we've been knocking on the door and pushing to make a statement on the world stage for Canada for a while now," said captain de Goede .

Also, this is what Canadian prop DaLeaka Menin said about the result:

"We worked so hard for the last, well it feels like forever, and then having this outcome," said an emotional Canadian prop DaLeaka Menin who earned her 55th cap .

This result gave Canada its second 2024 Pacific Four Series championship. They also did win the 2021 Pacific Four Series championship, but it was only contested between the U.S. and Canada as Australia and New Zealand could not participate because of COVID-19 restrictions.

If there is a negative to point out with the Canadians, it is that they have not played a single game since the historic Pacific Four Series win back on May 19, 2024, while the other three teams they will face have played at least one game in September. Still, expect Canada to head into this tournament with high hopes after two incredible performances in the 2023 WXV 1 competition and with Canada winning the 2024 Pacific Four Series championship, which allowed them to qualify for this year’s edition of the WXV 1 competition.

READ MORE: Rugby Canada’s veteran lock: Tyson Beukeboom

De Goede is unfortunately injured heading into the competition. There are still however other players to watch out for in this competition. One such player is Emily Tuttosi, who has an ability to use her strength to score tries via scrums. There is also the all-time caps leader and captain of the national team, Tyson Beukeboom.

Additionally, watch for Fancy Bermudez, as she played a big role in maybe two of the three most famous wins in the women’s program's history against both France and New Zealand within the past year.

READ MORE: Kévin Rouet: The Women’s 15’s Rugby Canada Head Coach

How To Watch The Games for Rugby Canada

Rugby Canada has three games in late September and early mid-October. They will start off against France at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia at 3:45 PM PT (6:45 PM ET) on September 29. After that, on October 5, they will face the Republic of Ireland at 3:45 PM PT (6:45PM ET) at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, British Columbia before ending their tournament against England at 7:00PM PT (10:00PM ET) again at BC Place on October 12.

All three games will be televised nationally on TSN as all games, including the ones not involving Canada, will take place at either the Langley Events Centre or BC Place.

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England Rugby Roster: https://x.com/WXVRugby/status/1836767820920520936

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France Rugby Roster: https://x.com/WXVRugby/status/1838189386782892200

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Ireland Rugby Roster: https://x.com/WXVRugby/status/1836765826965266545

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Rugby Canada Roster: https://x.com/WXVRugby/status/1837128223584358442

Photo Credit: Rugby Canada Facebook Page on September 24, 2024 .