The women's national rugby team has provided Canadians with even more national pride after they fought tooth and nail to bring home a medal from last weekend's HSBC SVNS tournament in Los Angeles.
A season that got off to a less-than-ideal start, with Team Canada finishing third-last in the opening Dubai tournament, had a spectacular ending as the women's team captured their third bronze medal in the final three competitions.
Helping the team achieve their success were Abbotsford's Shalaya Valenzuela, Vancouver's Florence Symonds, and North Vancouver's Savannah Bauder, who used their speed and power to get Team Canada into Pool A of the season championship, which took place in L.A. on May 3 and 4.
Paired up against Japan in the opening round of the tournament, Canada put on a dominant performance and secured a 26-0 win. The team then followed that up with a 26-17 win against Great Britain.
Unfortunately, they were unable to finish the first day with a perfect record, succumbing 41-5 to the top-ranked New Zealand team.
Going up against Australia in the semifinals, the Canadians suffered an unfortunate 33-7 loss, dropping them down into the third-place playoff final against the American home team.
In this North American battle, it was the Canadians who came out on top, earning the bronze medal finish with a 27-7 victory.
Securing bronze in serious style 🥉@RugbyCanada ending this #HSBCSVNS season on a high 🔥#HSBCSVNSLAX pic.twitter.com/zBKgnYPs48
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) May 4, 2025
With this final big win of the season, Team Canada cemented their position in the newly formed Division 1 for the 2026 HSBC SVNS season, which is an accomplishment that head coach Jocelyn Barrieau said she was very proud of.
"Trying to find some consistency is one of the hardest things to get in high-performance sport on the international scene, and we’ve been able to have different squads and find that consistency," Barrieau said. "We’re super happy with our result, especially to show up against a home team in a bronze medal game."
Also competing in L.A. was the men's national team, who were given an opportunity to secure a position in Division 2 for next season after World Rugby announced that the 2026 season would feature a three-division format.
Abbotsford's James Thiel joined the men's team and made his presence felt on the pitch, helping Team Canada go 2-2 in the playoffs.
The Canadians were placed in a must-win scenario against Kenya in the final match. But despite a try from Thiel – his first SVNS try ever – the team was unable to get the win.
This means that Team Canada will now begin the 2026 HSBC SVNS season with regional competitions, where they can potentially earn a spot in Division 3.
With the new format, only the top two men's and women's teams will advance to Division 2, with squads then having to finish in the top four spots in their respective gender pool in order to make it to the Division 1 championship group, which is where the women's national team will already start their season.
