CANADA WINS PACIFIC FOUR SERIES WITH HISTORIC FIRST EVER WIN OVER NEW ZEALAND

May 19, 2024 (Christchurch, New Zealand) - Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team beat the Black Ferns for the first time in team history to win the 2024 Pacific Four Series, with a 22-19 comeback victory over the reigning Pacific Four Series and Rugby World Cup champions. With this win, Canada moves into second in the women’s world rankings, the highest they have ranked since November 2016. 
 
In a match full of historical significance, Tyson Beukeboom officially reached 68 caps upon kick-off, becoming Canada’s all-time women’s caps leader.  
 
“I still don’t have words for it. It hasn’t sunk in yet. We’ve hit so many milestones tonight,” said Beukeboom. “We knew we could do it. We just had to go out on the field and put the game down, and we did, and I think proud is probably the best word at the moment. It was so much fun to be out there tonight.” 
 
Beukeboom’s team got to work immediately, with New Zealand forced to go on the defensive to open the match. Sophie de Goede got Canada an early 3-0 lead with a penalty kick in the seventh minute, but the Black Ferns responded quickly, with Katelyn Vahaakolo scoring in the seventh and 21st minutes to give New Zealand a 14-3 lead.  
 
Fancy Bermudez got the comeback started for Canada, scoring her first of the match off the set piece. De Goede’s conversion helped close the gap to 14-10, and a strong defensive showing from Canada to close out the first 40 minutes led into half-time.  
 
“Being calm and being cool, that’s been something we’ve been talking about all week,” said de Goede. “We knew we were putting a lot of pressure on them defensively and so that was the big moment for us was to just keep up the defensive effort. I think it was really important for us to keep them out right before half-time.”  
 
McKinley Hunt gave Canada a slight 15-14 lead just four minutes into the second half, with Bermudez scoring her second try following a yellow card to New Zealand. De Goede converted Bermudez’s try to give Canada an eight-point lead over the Black Ferns. 
 
Canada appeared to have furthered their lead thanks to Paige Farries, who broke through New Zealand’s defence before offloading the ball, and Alexandra Tessier, who touched the ball down between the uprights, but the try was called off due to an earlier obstruction.  
 
“Defensively at the end, it was very important for the team. We were in control until the end, so it was good to see that. It was a very good collective performance for sure,” said Head Coach Kevin Rouet. “They stayed together, they did long, long, long phases of defence. They didn’t break. The mindset was good because sometimes against these teams, you can break and not have a good mindset, that they were believing until the end that they were going to win the game, and they showed it.”  
 
Canada’s defence was relentless, fending off a 35 phase attack from New Zealand. A yellow card was assessed to Olivia Apps with 10 minutes remaining, but Canada didn’t let up, holding up a potential New Zealand try. The Black Ferns were able to crack Canada’s defence in the 72nd minute, but Canada maintained their 22-19 lead until the final whistle to claim the historic win. 
 
“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in, but it’s really special to achieve something that’s history, for the first time,” said de Goede. “I thought today we did a really good job of not thinking too much about the history that we could create, but just thinking about the present moment and what the next play was. I’m really proud of the way that we continued to rebound after every single play and find a way to win the game.” 
 
More information on the Pacific Four Series, including all scores and results, can be found on the official website at world.rugby/tournaments/pacific-four-series. 
 
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team will be in action on home soil this fall for WXV 1, with matches in British Columbia in September and October. The WXV 1 match schedule, venues, ticketing and broadcast information will be announced shortly. More information, including all the latest WXV news, can be found here.