Canada’s national women’s rugby team is building toward a World Cup run this summer – and they’re doing it with a powerful engine from Victoria.
The red-and-white opened their two-match tour of South Africa with a statement win on Saturday, thumping the Springbok women 50-20 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.
Among the try-scorers? Victoria’s own Caroline Crossley, who capped off a gutsy performance with her first-ever 15s international try – while barely able to stand.
“I was cramping insanely in my calves – my legs were just failing me,” Crossley laughed. “We had no subs left, so I just tried to be a body out there. Then that happened.”
She covered roughly 40 metres for the score in the final play of the game.
"Thank goodness it was the last play – I would’ve been done otherwise,” she told Victoria News.
That kind of perseverance is what Crossley and a host of Vancouver Island teammates are hoping to bottle as Canada continues its World Cup build-up.
Crossley, an Oak Bay High graduate, is one of 10 players on this tour with strong Victoria ties. Another is fellow Oak Bay alum and team captain Sophie de Goede, who is getting back to action after an ACL injury sidelined her last year.
They’re joined by Pamphinette Buisa, Gabrielle Senft, Carissa Norsten, Krissy Scurfield, Fancy Bermudez, Rori Wood, Alysha Corrigan and Olivia Apps. Many play out of Westshore RFC or the Castaway Wanderers, and several honed their craft with the UVic Vikes.
“There’s a really strong grassroots presence in Victoria,” Crossley said. “The clubs, the volunteers, the coaches – there’s so many people who pour into the sport and help grow it. That’s where the strength starts.”
Even for players from outside the region, Victoria still feels like home. Langford's Starlight Stadium houses Rugby Canada’s main training centre, which means many on the squad have spent years there together.
“Those connections help a lot,” Crossley said. “There’s shared memories, shared struggles, and it just makes the team that much tighter.”
Canada – currently ranked second in the world – will face South Africa again on July 12 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.
With the World Cup kicking off Aug. 22 in England, these exhibition matches are more than just tune-ups.
“This tour has been a great opportunity to perform and build,” Crossley said. “We don’t always have a ton of time together as a team, so to have this stretch to develop our systems and chemistry has been huge.”
Despite the lopsided score in Game 1, Crossley expects a tougher battle in the rematch.
“South Africa’s a very physical team – they’ve got a powerful forward pack and we struggled early in the scrums and mauls,” she said. “But we corrected a lot throughout the match. Game 2 will be a test.”
After South Africa, the squad will return home for a short break before reconvening in Ottawa for a pre-World Cup fixture against the United States, on Aug. 1 followed by another against Ireland on Aug. 9.
At the World Cup, Canada is grouped with Scotland, Wales and Fiji.
But the focus remains on the moment.
“Our goal is to win the World Cup,” said Crossley. “But it starts with the next game. One at a time.”
