Canada claims strong 50-17 win over USA in first Pacific Four Series match

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team opened the 2023 Pacific Four Series with a massive 50-17 win over the USA, extending Canada’s win streak against the Americans to eight games.  

A well-controlled maul led to Emily Tuttosi scoring the first try of the game for Canada in the ninth minute of play, followed by a nicely executed conversion from captain Sophie de Goede, who kicked five conversions on eight attempts in windy conditions.

Accelerating through the contact area to pull away from the Americans’ defence, Poulin scored her first try of the game in the 22nd minute. Her second try came just over 10 minutes later, as the Canadians demonstrated their ability to recycle the ball quickly and cleanly.

The USA scored their first points of the game on a penalty, but Fancy Bermudez maintained Canada’s momentum, making her mark in just her second cap for Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team by fending off USA defenders to further the score.

With a comfortable 26-3 lead at half-time, Canada went on to nearly double their score in the second half. Forcing an error after surviving immense pressure, Canada was the first to strike in the second half, with a long pass from Tyson Beukeboom out wide to Sarah-Maude Lachance.

“We play the Americans a lot and they always come out firing,” said de Goede. “We knew we needed to front up right from the beginning and they definitely put pressure on us, so I was happy with the way we responded to that and started to put points on the board and build a lead.”

Hope Rogers scored the Americans’ first try of the game in the 54th minute, at which point Sara Svoboda was also assessed a yellow card. Canada was still effective offensively despite playing with 14, with Beukeboom scoring off a lineout. The USA scored their final try and conversion in the 65th minute, making the score 40-17.

Two more players scored for Canada before the final whistle; Emma Taylor powered over the try line after receiving a pass from de Goede, and Gillian Boag scored following a well carried out switch play on a lineout.

“Offensively we wanted to move the ball and play as a collective,” said Head Coach Kevin Rouet. “It was good to see a lot of good things on the field collectively. For sure there were some mistakes, but just moving the ball, playing together, was fun to see. For sure we want to win because we want to show that we are a winning team on this new cycle, but overall, we wanted to just play without pressure. It’s good to build some good offensive and defensive mindset and move on with that.”

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team will meet New Zealand and Australia in the third and fourth rounds of the Pacific Four Series this July in Canada. Dates, location, and ticket details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Contested by Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA, this is the third edition of the Pacific Four Series, and the second to feature all four countries. Qualification for the inaugural WXV, a new three-tier annual global women’s international 15s competition, is on the line, with the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series qualifying for the top WXV tier and the bottom team headed for tier 2.

More information on the Pacific Four Series can be found on the official website at world.rugby/tournaments/pacific-four-series.